EXPROPNANO : Towards a better assessment of occupational exposure to airborne NP by integrating work task analysis and exposure measurement
Résumé
There are numerous industry sectors and processes where worker exposures to nanoscale particles (NP), either unintentionally emitted or manufactured, have the potential to be significant if organisational and control measures and personal protective equipment are not properly defined, usable or used. However, too little exposure data are available today for meta-analysis for risk assessment or epidemiology. One reason for this observation is probably the lack of a harmonized and consistent approach to assess worker exposure. In this work, we propose a multi-tiered approach that integrates aerosol measurement and work task analysis. This multi-disciplinary approach aims to enhance exposure assessment and understand more precisely determinants of exposure. Illustrated in the Figure 1, this approach combines (i) information gathering; (ii) real time aerosol measurements and aerosol sampling (e.g. for electron microscopy analysis); (iii) contextual and observational information; (iiii) video exposure monitoring; (iiiii) interviews with stakeholders and construction of suitable safety measures. In the context of the development of the method, the proposed approach will now be tested in a variety of work environments, including research laboratories (involving manufactured NP) and facilities in aeronautic (additive manufacturing, machining, surface treatment and maintenance) and rubber sectors (mixture of fillers).