Critical aspects in occupational exposure assessment with different aerosol metrics in an industrial spray coating process

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dc.contributor.authorBelosi, Franco
dc.contributor.authorKoivisto, Antti Joonas
dc.contributor.authorFurxhi, Irini
dc.contributor.authorde Ipiña, Jesús Lopez
dc.contributor.authorNicosia, Alessia
dc.contributor.authorRavegnani, Fabrizio
dc.contributor.authorOrtelli, Simona
dc.contributor.authorZanoni, Ilaria
dc.contributor.authorCosta, Anna
dc.contributor.institutionSMART_MON
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-24T12:06:12Z
dc.date.available2024-07-24T12:06:12Z
dc.date.issued2023-04
dc.descriptionPublisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors
dc.description.abstractEngineered Nanomaterials (ENMs) have several uses in various industrial fields and are embedded in a myriad of consumer products. However, there is continued concern over the potential adverse health effects and environmental impacts of ENMs due to their unique physico-chemical characteristics. Currently, there are no specific international regulations for various ENMs. There are also no Occupational Exposure Limits (OEL) regulated by the European Union (EU) for nanomaterials in the form of nano-objects, their aggregates or agglomerates (NOAA). For ENMs the question of which metric to be used (i.e., mass, surface area, number concentrations) to determine the exposure is still not resolved. The aim of this work is to assess the worker exposure by inhalation in an industrial spray coating process by using all three metrics mentioned above. Two target ENMs (N-doped TiO2, TiO2N and AgNPs capped with a quaternized hydroxyethyl-cellulose, AgHEC) generated for industrial-scale spraying processes were considered. Results showed that the averaged particle number concentration (10–100 nm) was below 2.7 104 cm−3 for both materials. The Lung Deposited Surface Area (LDSA) was in the range between 73 and 98 μm2cm−3 and the particle mass concentration (obtained by means of ICP-EOS off-line analysis) resulted below 70 μg m−3 and 0.4 μg m−3 for TiO2 and Ag, respectively. Although, the airborne particles concentration compared well with the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Level (REL) limits the contribution to the background, according to EN 17058 (Annex E) was significant (particularly in the particle number and PM1 mass concentrations). We successfully evaluated the worker exposure by means of the different airborne particles' metrics (number, surface and mass concentrations). We concluded that worker exposure assessment involving ENMs is a complex procedure with requires both real time and off-line measurements and a deep investigation of the background.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors wish to thank Asperti M. and Altin M. (Witek srl) for their technical support and Del Secco B. and Trabucco S. for their assistance in the measurement campaigns. This work was supported by the “ASINA” (Anticipating Safety Issues at the Design Stage of NAno Product Development) European project. ASINA has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 862444. This paper reflects only the author's view, and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
dc.description.statusPeer reviewed
dc.identifier.citationBelosi , F , Koivisto , A J , Furxhi , I , de Ipiña , J L , Nicosia , A , Ravegnani , F , Ortelli , S , Zanoni , I & Costa , A 2023 , ' Critical aspects in occupational exposure assessment with different aerosol metrics in an industrial spray coating process ' , NanoImpact , vol. 30 , 100459 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2023.100459
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.impact.2023.100459
dc.identifier.issn2452-0748
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11556/3637
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151480279&partnerID=8YFLogxK
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofNanoImpact
dc.relation.projectIDWitek srl
dc.relation.projectIDHorizon 2020, 862444
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.keywordsAerosol metrics
dc.subject.keywordsEngineered nanomaterial
dc.subject.keywordsExposure assessment
dc.subject.keywordsSpray-coating
dc.subject.keywordsMaterials Science (miscellaneous)
dc.subject.keywordsSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
dc.subject.keywordsSafety Research
dc.subject.keywordsPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
dc.titleCritical aspects in occupational exposure assessment with different aerosol metrics in an industrial spray coating processen
dc.typejournal article
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