Portable Analyzer for On-Site Monitoring of Worker Exposure to Toxic Metals

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fryxell GE ; Timchalk C ; Yantasee W
• Description:
  Large numbers of industrial workers are regularly exposed to toxic heavy metals like cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg), which are known to induce various diseases that are detrimental to human health. In order to monitor workers for multiple toxic metal exposures and to ensure that these exposures are below a threshold for inducing permanent damage to various organ systems, a portable analyzer for real-time, onsite, non-invasive monitoring of workers for toxic metal exposure will be developed using a novel approach developed by our research group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The analyzer will be based on the built-in preconcentration of cadmium, lead, and mercury present in urine by the highly efficient sorbent materials, created at PNNL, prior to their voltammetric quantitation. Urine is universally recognized as one of the best non-invasive matrix to assess both acute and ongoing exposures to a broad range of many toxic metals. The sorbent materials are functionalized mesoporous silica (SAMMS) and functionalized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (FNP), both have extremely high surface area and organic functional groups that are selective and effective for direct preconcentration of the target metals. They are designed to be highly specific for the metal ions even in complex urine matrix without sample dilution or sample pretreatment. Thus our sensors do not require toxic mercury for metal ion preconcentration unlike conventional electrochemical sensors. Delivery of samples and reagents is based on programmable sequential injection with turbulent flow-onto a design that minimizes the sensor fouling caused by proteins. The analyzer will reduce the time and costs of monitoring worker exposure and clinical diagnosis. It represents the next-generation of metal ion analyzer because of its affordability, low power consumption, portability, full automation, and easy operation, which are better than the traditional analytical methods like AAS and ICP-MS. The portable analyzer will eventually enable (1) better identification of at-risk workers and development of appropriate control and intervention strategies, (2) understanding of exposure-response relationships, and (3) improvement of baseline data for a standard setting and risk assessment, all of which have been identified as important by the Exposure Assessment Methods (EAM) team commissioned by NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Metals, Heavy Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Analytical Instruments Biological Monitoring Exposure Assessment Exposure Levels Heavy Metals Metal Ions Monitoring Systems Occupational Exposure Risk Assessment Sensors
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-18
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060806
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2021-100187
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R21-OH-008900, 2009 Nov; :1-18
• Contact Point Address:
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Biological Monitoring and Modeling, 902 Battelle Blvd., PO Box 999, MSIN P7-59, Richland, WA 99352
• Email:
  charles.timchalk@pnl.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20060901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20090831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:33b088104e2dc92aff327ff69f230dcd48b2d2af550570ec8883a86c3b1083cb3898fb635760e4124b24882e32ab5bb0d1304a840e12c39cec870823862d766c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219014/cdc_219014_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 764.86 KB ]