Real-Time Air Monitoring of Occupational Exposures to Particulate Matter Among Hairdressers in Maryland: A Pilot Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boyle M ; Kavi L ; Louis LM ; Pool W ; Quiros-Alcala L ; Rule AM ; Shao Y ; Thomas SB ; Wilson S
• Description:
  Hairdressers are exposed to particulate matter (PM), a known air pollutant linked to adverse health effects. Still, studies on occupational PM exposures in hair salons are sparse. We characterized indoor air PM concentrations in three salons primarily serving an African/African American (AA) clientele, and three Dominican salons primarily serving a Latino clientele. We also assessed the performance of low-cost sensors (uRAD, Flow, AirVisual) by comparing them to high-end sensors (DustTrak) to conduct air monitoring in each salon over 3 days to quantify work shift concentrations of PM2.5, respirable PM (RPM), and PM10. We observed high spatial and temporal variability in 30-min time-weighted average (TWA) RPM concentrations (0.18-5518 µg/m3). Readings for the uRAD and AirVisual sensors were highly correlated with the DustTrak (R2 = 0.90-0.99). RPM 8-hour TWAs ranged from 18 to 383 µg/m3 for AA salons, and 9-2115 µg/m3 for Dominican salons. Upper 95th percentiles of daily RPM exposures ranged from 439 to 2669 µg/m3. The overall range of 30-min TWA PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations was 0.13-5497 and 0.36-,541 µg/m3, respectively. Findings suggest that hairdressers could be overexposed to RPM during an 8-hour shift. Additional comprehensive monitoring studies are warranted to further characterize temporal and spatial variability of PM exposures in this understudied occupational population. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Environmental Monitoring Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Monitoring Air Pollutants Author Keywords: Hair Salons Hairdressers Hair Salons Indoor Air Indoor Environments Low-cost Sensors Occupational Exposure Particulate Matter Particulates PM2.5 PM10 Respirable PM RPM Sensors

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• ISSN:
  0905-6947
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  31
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070225
• Citation:
  Indoor Air 2021 Jul; 31(4):1144-1153
• Contact Point Address:
  Lesliam Quiros-Alcala, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MA 21205, USA
• Email:
  lalcala1@jhu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Indoor Air
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:943249268f8bd58bcc79e6ea4749e171252b20d0f755367efb44dbcdf3a591ed681f4222e1d5cc5f9070cb67208a76ad81b0f0333b216cd550cb68b35d881192
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208476/cdc_208476_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB ]