Chasing a changing chemical market: challenges in researching and managing exposure to PFAS.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Calkins M
• Description:
  Industrial hygienists and occupational and environmental health and safety professionals are challenged every day with protecting workers from exposures to known hazards in the workplace. This task is noticeably more difficult when sufficient information exists about an emerging hazard to warrant concern, but occupational exposure limits have yet to be developed and the available data are insufficient to advance appropriate worker protection programs. Furthermore, for poorly characterized or understood workplace hazards, the research necessary to support the development of worker protection recommendations and OELs may be lacking. This is the dilemma for workers exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in thousands of work sites across the U.S., where PFAS exposures fall into both challenging categories due to the complexity of potential exposures. More than two decades ago, some of the better known PFAS-like the eight-carbon chain PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as "C8," and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)-were in the spotlight. The focus on exposures to PFAS has recently been renewed, driven by concerns over widespread environmental contamination of these "forever chemicals," ongoing human exposure, and growing evidence of associations with adverse health effects. However, the focus is no longer on a select few PFAS, but on PFAS as a class of chemicals that includes as many as 9,000 individual compounds, many of which have never been tested in a toxicological setting, let alone included in an occupational exposure assessment or epidemiologic study. While research programs and priorities across government, academic, and private sectors are rapidly expanding, substantial gaps complicate research prioritization and implementation of recommendations to reduce exposures to PFAS and protect worker health. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Worker safety; Worker health; Industrial hygiene; Occupational Exposure Limits; OELs; Environmental contamination; Synthetic materials; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; PFAS
• ISSN:
  1066-7660
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20-25
• Volume:
  33
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065938
• Citation:
  Synergist 2022 Mar; 33(3):20-25
• Email:
  mcalkins@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Perfluorocarbons (CAS RN 308069-13-8) ; Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (CAS RN 1763-23-1) ; Perfluorooctanoic acid (CAS RN 335-67-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Synergist
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ae04473cb444f21581a52b1a9f8bb92402c3974da13236b8aec87d2968785ee560fa334ee543d7c2e86b50c88f38a4c07bf7c8a7639ca4ca4d0f2a365a0cae4c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248803/cdc_248803_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.91 MB ]