Nanomaterials: occupational safety and health, analysis and regulation.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Looney WC ; Nazarenko Y ; Shaffer, Richard A.
• Description:
  Engineered nanomaterials are used in a vast array of intermediate industrial as well as end-user consumer products and applications. The attention and R&D efforts in the field of nanotechnology are related to the many useful physicochemical, electrical, optical, quantum characteristics and bioactivity of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products. However, human exposure to nanomaterials and their releases into the environment occur at different stages of nanomaterials life cycles, starting with production of raw materials, during manufacturing of products, throughout product life, and during and after waste processing and disposal. A major concern is occupational exposure to nanomaterials and their potential adverse health effects. Therefore, there is a growing demand for better analytical techniques and characterization approaches for both development and production of nanomaterials and for environmental monitoring and human exposure assessment. The demand is also high for better risk assessment strategies associated with nanomaterials manufacturing, use and disposal. Analysis and characterization of nanomaterials are challenging due to the increased difficulties of imaging, measuring, counting and characterizing matter at small scale and in small quantities. The physicochemical variety and frequent use of complex nanomaterial-containing mixtures and structures complicate things further. The techniques and approaches for nanomaterial analysis and characterization can be used in both the nanotechnology development and manufacturing as well as environmental and health risk assessment research. There is also a very limited understanding of the extent of potential for exposure to nanomaterials and environmental releases, and of the various changes they undergo after releases into the environment. All these aspects will potentially result in adverse health effects. These challenges also make it difficult to develop evidence-based regulations and understand which nanomaterials need to be regulated and for what reasons. The panelists will discuss the benefits, use and potential safety concerns associated with nanomaterials, including the occupational context; currently available sampling, measurement and analytical techniques; and risk assessment strategies. The presentations and discussion will cover the current practices and research with respect to occupational exposure and its risks; mitigation of the occupational risks and personal protective equipment. Specific instruments for nanoaerosol and nanomaterial analysis will be described. Additional discussion will touch upon measurement and experimental approaches to assessment of inhalation exposure to airborne nanomaterials and incidental nanoparticles, which may be released from industrial and other processes. Lastly, some recent nanotechnology regulatory developments will be summarized. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Environment Environmental Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Public Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Consumer Products; Environment; Exposure; Instrumentation; Instruments; Legislation; Measurement; Nanomaterials; Nanoobjects; Nanoparticles; Nanoscale; Nanotechnology; Personal Protective Equipment; PPE; Public Health; RCC; REACH; Regulation; Toxics; TSCA; Ultrafine Nanotechnology; Sampling; Nanomaterials; Aerosols; Exposure Levels; Risk Factors; Airborne Particulates; Personal Protective Equipment; PPE; Public Health; Safety; Risk Assessment;
• Publisher:
  Air and Waste Management Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050782
• Citation:
  Air and Waste Management Association's 110th Annual Conference and Exhibition: Bridging Environment, Energy and Health, June 5-8, 2017, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: Air and Waste Management Association, 2017 Jun; :265083
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Air and Waste Management Association's 110th Annual Conference and Exhibition: Bridging Environment, Energy and Health, June 5-8, 2017, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248292/cdc_248292_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]