Evaluation of Take-Home Exposure and Risk Associated with the Handling of Clothing Contaminated with Chrysotile Asbestos

Details

• Personal Author:
  Avens HJ ; Barlow CA ; Gaffney SH ; Henshaw J ; Lee RJ ; Madl AK ; Paustenbach DJ ; Sahmel J ; Sanchez M ; Simmons B ; Van Orden D ; Zock M
• Description:
  The potential for para-occupational (or take-home) exposures from contaminated clothing has been recognized for the past 60 years. To better characterize the take-home asbestos exposure pathway, a study was performed to measure the relationship between airborne chrysotile concentrations in the workplace, the contamination of work clothing, and take-home exposures and risks. The study included air sampling during two activities: (1) contamination of work clothing by airborne chrysotile (i.e., loading the clothing), and (2) handling and shaking out of the clothes. The clothes were contaminated at three different target airborne chrysotile concentrations (0-0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter [f/cc], 1-2 f/cc, and 2-4 f/cc; two events each for 31-43 minutes; six events total). Arithmetic mean concentrations for the three target loading levels were 0.01 f/cc, 1.65 f/cc, and 2.84 f/cc (National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety [NIOSH] 7402). Following the loading events, six matched 30-minute clothes-handling and shake-out events were conducted, each including 15 minutes of active handling (15-minute means; 0.014-0.097 f/cc) and 15 additional minutes of no handling (30-minute means; 0.006-0.063 f/cc). Percentages of personal clothes-handling TWAs relative to clothes-loading TWAs were calculated for event pairs to characterize exposure potential during daily versus weekly clothes-handling activity. Airborne concentrations for the clothes handler were 0.2-1.4% (eight-hour TWA or daily ratio) and 0.03-0.27% (40-hour TWA or weekly ratio) of loading TWAs. Cumulative chrysotile doses for clothes handling at airborne concentrations tested were estimated to be consistent with lifetime cumulative chrysotile doses associated with ambient air exposure (range for take-home or ambient doses: 0.00044-0.105 f/cc year). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Dust Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne Particles Air Contamination Asbestos Dust Asbestos Fibers Asbestos Workers Author Keywords: Asbestos Clothing Exposure Assessment Exposure Methods Para-occupational Exposure Take-home Exposure Take-home Toxins

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• ISSN:
  0272-4332
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; Florida ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053698
• Citation:
  Risk Anal 2014 Aug; 34(8):1448-1468
• Contact Point Address:
  J. Sahmel, Cardno ChemRisk, 4840 Pearl E. Circle, Ste. 300W, Boulder, CO, USA
• Email:
  jennifer.sahmel@cardno.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chrysotile (CAS RN 12001-29-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Risk Analysis
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:95066b007c83109b5f186ec49c4b7587d4f31ddc7e9277f4ee88cac23a17e3b45f6344c367c64580946de54e8a98a30d4f1b2b3dbb24d46492b366227405a851
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216411/cdc_216411_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 466.13 KB ]