New nanoparticle health and safety report
The report "Nanoparticles: an occupational hygiene review" may be downloaded through the IOMs website at http://www.iom-world.org\nanoparticles or directly from the HSE website at,http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr274.htm The study team reviewed processes for the deliberate development and manufacture of nanoparticle products and considered sources and routes of exposure, levels of exposure, numbers exposed, knowledge gaps and future trends. They concluded that all of the four main groups of nanoparticle production processes may potentially result in exposure by inhalation, dermal or ingestion routes and that little is known about current levels of exposure. Control approaches are available which should be effective for exposure by inhalation but this has not been clearly demonstrated. Control approaches for dermal and ingestion exposure may not be as effective as they are for larger particles. Surface area is probably the best exposure metric for some but not necessarily all nanoparticles but there are no effective methods by which this can be measured in the workplace. The level of current knowledge is insufficient for risk assessment purposes. The number of workers who may be exposed to nanoparticles in the university sector and in emerging nanoparticle companies may be as high as 2000. More information about IOM's nanotechnology initiative is available at http://www.iom-world.org\nanoparticles
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United Kingdom