Nanomaterials present great opportunities for novel products and technological solutions, but also raise health concerns. Some manufacturing jobs already involve production or handling of nanomaterials, but knowledge of nanomaterials’ and nanoparticles’ hazards is incomplete. Thus, precautionary risk management should involve identification of potentially exposed workers, measures to minimize exposure and health screening. Knowledge about occupational exposure to nanomaterials is currently limited, and it is an essential pre-requisite for the assessment of any reported health effects associated with these materials. Few data are being collected and the most appropriate measurement metrics that may be relevant to understanding the adverse health effects of nanomaterials also remain disputed. A pragmatic approach can however be proposed to address this shortcoming: namely to identify potential sources of nanomaterial emissions, including work practices; to perform qualitative assessments of potential exposures (number of companies, workers, quantities of materials etc); and to measure exposure parameters at selected sites. Health screening specific for hazardous nanoparticles can not yet be recommended due to a lack of information about health effects and biomarkers, but general medical surveillance could be undertaken. A major challenge in Europe is the variety of existing Occupational Health (OH)-reporting schemes. In countries such as France, basic health status information is already being collected and made available for (future retrospective) studies, whilst in other countries such data are difficult to access or not being collected. Furthermore, the acceptability of approaches for studying OH is strongly influenced by different national regulatory systems. Overall, standardizing health surveillance for these novel materials across the EU combined with epidemiological, clinical and experimental observations would help to improve our understanding of adverse health outcomes caused by exposure to manufactured nanomaterials. Baseline health monitoring before employees start work with nanomaterials would provide a measure against which to monitor this population. It is equally important that alongside health records, the type of nanomaterials handled and the exposure scenarios should be documented.
Strategies for Assessing Occupational Health Effects of Engineered Nanomaterials
BERGAMASCHI, Enrico;
2010-01-01
Abstract
Nanomaterials present great opportunities for novel products and technological solutions, but also raise health concerns. Some manufacturing jobs already involve production or handling of nanomaterials, but knowledge of nanomaterials’ and nanoparticles’ hazards is incomplete. Thus, precautionary risk management should involve identification of potentially exposed workers, measures to minimize exposure and health screening. Knowledge about occupational exposure to nanomaterials is currently limited, and it is an essential pre-requisite for the assessment of any reported health effects associated with these materials. Few data are being collected and the most appropriate measurement metrics that may be relevant to understanding the adverse health effects of nanomaterials also remain disputed. A pragmatic approach can however be proposed to address this shortcoming: namely to identify potential sources of nanomaterial emissions, including work practices; to perform qualitative assessments of potential exposures (number of companies, workers, quantities of materials etc); and to measure exposure parameters at selected sites. Health screening specific for hazardous nanoparticles can not yet be recommended due to a lack of information about health effects and biomarkers, but general medical surveillance could be undertaken. A major challenge in Europe is the variety of existing Occupational Health (OH)-reporting schemes. In countries such as France, basic health status information is already being collected and made available for (future retrospective) studies, whilst in other countries such data are difficult to access or not being collected. Furthermore, the acceptability of approaches for studying OH is strongly influenced by different national regulatory systems. Overall, standardizing health surveillance for these novel materials across the EU combined with epidemiological, clinical and experimental observations would help to improve our understanding of adverse health outcomes caused by exposure to manufactured nanomaterials. Baseline health monitoring before employees start work with nanomaterials would provide a measure against which to monitor this population. It is equally important that alongside health records, the type of nanomaterials handled and the exposure scenarios should be documented.
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