Assessment of dermal exposure during airless spray painting using a quantitative visualisation technique

The range of dermal exposure to non-volatile compounds during spray painting was studied in a semi-experimental study involving three enterprises and 12 painters. A fluorescent tracer was added to the paint and deposition of the tracer on clothing and uncovered parts of the skin was assessed using video imaging and processing techniques. A container (volume 36 m3) was sprayed with a colourless laquer (varnish) containing 66.7 mg/l fluorescent whitening agent. All painters sprayed the outside of the container. Nine painters repeated the painting a second time and five also sprayed the inside of the container. The painters wore white Tyvek ä coveralls, but no gloves. Duration of spraying the outside ranged from 4 to 21 min with a mean of 10 min and the amount of paint sprayed ranged from 3.0 to 12.8 l (mean 6.6 l). The mass of tracer deposited on the coverall ranged from 2.2 to 471 mg (90th percentile 256 mg), whereas, mass deposited on skin (i.e. the hands, wrists, and face) ranged from 0.01 to 52 mg tracer (90th percentile 20 mg). The quantity of tracer on the coverall was three times higher after spraying the inside of the container compared to spraying the outside, whereas the quantity on the skin was similar in both cases. On average 10 % of the surface area of the coverall and skin was exposed during spraying the outside. Exposures, expresse

DOI: 10.1093/annhyg/meg012 DREAM: A Method for Semi-quantitative Dermal Exposure Assessment

This paper describes a new method (DREAM) for structured, semi-quantitative dermal exposure assessment for chemical or biological agents that can be used in occupational hygiene or epidemiology. It is anticipated that DREAM could serve as an initial assessment of dermal exposure, amongst others, resulting in a ranking of tasks and subsequently jobs. DREAM consists of an inventory and evaluation part. Two examples of dermal exposure of workers of a car-construction company show that DREAM characterizes tasks and gives insight into exposure mechanisms, forming a basis for systematic exposure reduction. DREAM supplies estimates for exposure levels on the outside clothing layer as well as on skin, and provides insight into the distribution of dermal exposure over the body. Together with the ranking of tasks and people, this provides information for measurement strategies and helps to determine who, where and what to measure. In addition to dermal exposure assessment, the systematic description of dermal exposure pathways helps to prioritize and determine most adequate measurement strategies and methods. DREAM could be a promising approach for structured, semi-quantitative, dermal exposure assessment

Peripartum cardiomyopathy presenting with repetitive monomorphic ventricular tachycardia

REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals) requires improved exposure models that can be incorporated into screening tools and refined assessment tools. These are referred to as tier 1 and 2 models, respectively. There are a number of candidate in tier 1 models that could be used with REACH. Tier 2 models, producing robust and realistic exposure assessments, are currently not available. A research programme is proposed in this paper that will result in a new, advanced exposure assessment tool for REACH. In addition, issues related to variability and uncertainty are discussed briefly, and some examples of tier 1 screening tools are presented. The proposed framework for the tier 2 tool is based on a Bayesian approach, and makes full use of mechanistically modelled estimates and any relevant measurements of exposure. The new approach will preclude the necessity to conduct of case-by-case exposure measurements for each chemical and scenario, since the system will allow for the use of analogous exposure data from relatively comparable scenarios. The development of the new approach requires substantial effort in the area of mechanistic modelling, database development and Bayesian statistical techniques. In this paper, the data gaps and areas for future research are identified to help realise and further improve this type of approach within REACH. A structured data collection and storage system is a central element of the research programme and the availability of this type of tool may also facilitate the sharing of exposure data down and up the supply chain. In addition, new data that are stored according to the proposed structure could enable the validation of any exposure model and thus this programme enhances the exposure assessment field as a whole. © 2007 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved