State of the Science: Human Health Effects of Engineered Nanomaterials

Details

• Personal Author:
  Schubauer-Berigan, Mary K.
• Description:
  Human (epidemiologic) studies of the health effects of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) have been few and generally confined to the materials expected to be most hazardous [e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNT) or nanofibers (CNF)] or in most common use (e.g., titanium dioxide). The occupational setting is currently the most appropriate for conducting health studies of ENM, given the low exposures and study feasibility challenges in the general population. Occupational studies are challenging, due to the small workforce sizes involved in ENM manufacturing and use, difficulty for researchers in accessing the populations, and problematic exposure assessment for most ENM; an emblematic example of the latter is uncertainty about which aspects of ENM exposure are most relevant to health. A recent review of epidemiologic studies of ENM identified 15 studies in progress (three-quarters of which were cross-sectional) of 9 unique populations of ENM workers. In addition, a relatively large cross-sectional study of US CNT and CNF workers has been completed and full publications of studies of other CNT workers have appeared in the literature. Relatively few overt health effects have been found to be associated with CNT or CNF exposure in these epidemiologic studies. The exposures in the human studies are generally lower than those used in most toxicology studies, which hampers their comparability. Most published studies have reported some inflammatory or other biomarkers to be associated with measured exposures to ENM, although specific findings tend to be inconsistent across populations. These and other challenges in conducting epidemiologic research of ENM point to the need to pool data across studies and populations. This will require study coordination to ensure comparability of exposure and outcome measurement. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomarkers Engineering Epidemiology Hazardous Substances Immune System Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Titanium Toxicology

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• Keywords:
  Carbon Nanofibers Carbon Nanotubes CNF Cross Sectional Studies Exposure Assessment Health Effects Health Hazards Humans Immune Reaction Manufacturing Nanomaterials Nanotechnology Nanotoxicology Occupational Hazards Occupational Health Systematic Reviews Titanium Dioxide Ultrafine Particles Worker Health Worker Safety

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• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  182-183
• Volume:
  162
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051176
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2018 Mar; 162(1):182-183
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon nanotubes (CAS RN 308068-56-6) ; Titania (CAS RN 13463-67-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 57th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 11-15, 2018, San Antonio, Texas
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b086a982f726d0adf942418461d7393637e8cd15fae8d3c8c4503f0be841429aae81bd87119a32be94e0a53cc47d8859bbf8a0f5ac5faf177e10b08ed7e626da
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211267/cdc_211267_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 852.68 KB ]