Occupational exposure to nanoparticles at commercial photocopy centers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bello D ; Bunker K ; Christiani D ; Demokritou P ; Martin, Jennifer E. ; Shafer M ; Woskie S
• Description:
  Photocopiers emit high levels of nanoparticles (PM0.1). To-date little is known of physicochemical composition of PM0.1 in real workplace settings. Here we perform a comprehensive physicochemical and morphological characterization of PM0.1 and raw materials (toners and paper) at eight commercial photocopy centers that use color and monochrome photocopiers over the course of a full week. We document high PM0.1 exposures with complex composition and several ENM in toners and PM0.1. Daily geometric mean PM0.1 concentrations ranged from 3700 to 34000 particles/cubic-centimeter (particles/cm(3)) (GSD 1.4-3.3), up to 12 times greater than background, with transient peaks >1.4 million particles/cm(3). PM0.1 contained 6-63% organic carbon, <1% elemental carbon, and 2-8% metals, including iron, zinc, titania, chromium, nickel and manganese, typically in the <0.01-1% range, and in agreement with toner composition. These findings document widespread ENM in toner formulations and high nanoparticle exposures are an industry-wide phenomenon. It further calls attention to the need to substantially redesign the interface of this technology with workers and consumers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chromium Ferrous Compounds Manganese Metals Nickel Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Titanium Zinc Compounds
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Copy Center Carbon-compounds Chromium-compounds Engineered Nanoparticles Iron-compounds Manganese-compounds Metal-compounds NanoEHS Nanotechnology Nickel-compounds Particulate-dust Particulates Titanium Dioxide Toner Zinc-compounds

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• ISSN:
  0304-3894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  351-360
• Volume:
  298
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047525
• Citation:
  J Hazard Mater 2015 Nov; 298:351-360
• Contact Point Address:
  Dhimiter Bello, Department of Work Environment, KI 200, University of Massachusetts, One University Ave., Lowell, MA 01854, USA
• Email:
  Dhimiter_Bello@uml.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Titania (CAS RN 13463-67-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2759 - Commercial printing, not elsewhere classified - (SIC) ; 7339 - Stenographic and Reproduction, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Hazardous Materials
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e5294d773a4e2161dac8366708b024688ff1ae1affd4506bb277c01a652c989d57c955533e7dbdcdb2b18e1ee3ac536b1b780017b2c013f8bde8a8d4849febe3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202564/cdc_202564_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.24 MB ]