Institut universitaire romand de Sante au Travail, University of Lausanne and University of Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2010 Apr;7(4):224-32. doi: 10.1080/15459621003609127.
Addressing the risks of nanoparticles requires knowledge about release into the environment and occupational exposure. However, such information currently is not systematically collected; therefore, this risk assessment lacks quantitative data. The goal was to evaluate the current level of nanoparticle usage in Swiss industry as well as health, safety, and environmental measures, and the number of potentially exposed workers. A representative, stratified mail survey was conducted among 1626 clients of the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA), which insures 80,000 manufacturing firms, representing 84% of all Swiss manufacturing companies (947 companies answered the survey for a 58.3% response rate). The extrapolation to all Swiss manufacturing companies results in 1309 workers (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1073 to 1545) potentially exposed to nanoparticles in 586 companies (95% CI: 145 to 1027). This corresponds to 0.08% of workers (95% CI: 0.06% to 0.09%) and to 0.6% of companies (95% CI: 0.2% to 1.1%). The industrial chemistry sector showed the highest percentage of companies using nanoparticles (21.2%). Other important sectors also reported nanoparticles. Personal protection equipment was the predominant protection strategy. Only a few applied specific environmental protection measures. This is the first nationwide representative study on nanoparticle use in the manufacturing sector. The information gained can be used for quantitative risk assessment. It can also help policymakers design strategies to support companies developing a safer use of nanomaterial. Noting the current low use of nanoparticles, there is still time to proactively introduce protective methods. If the predicted "nano-revolution" comes true, now is the time to take action.
解决纳米颗粒的风险需要了解其向环境中的释放和职业暴露情况。然而，目前这些信息并没有被系统地收集，因此，这种风险评估缺乏定量数据。本研究的目的是评估瑞士工业中纳米颗粒的使用现状以及健康、安全和环境措施，以及潜在暴露于纳米颗粒的工人数量。采用分层随机抽样的方法，对瑞士国家意外事故保险基金（SUVA）的 1626 家客户进行了代表性的邮件调查，该基金承保了 80000 家制造企业，占瑞士所有制造企业的 84%（947 家公司对调查做出了回应，回应率为 58.3%）。将结果外推到所有瑞士制造企业，得出在 586 家企业中，有 1309 名工人（95%置信区间[CI]：1073 至 1545）可能接触到纳米颗粒（95%CI：145 至 1027）。这相当于 0.08%的工人（95%CI：0.06%至 0.09%）和 0.6%的企业（95%CI：0.2%至 1.1%）。工业化学领域使用纳米颗粒的企业比例最高（21.2%）。其他重要领域也报告了纳米颗粒的使用。个人防护设备是主要的防护策略。只有少数企业采取了具体的环境保护措施。这是第一项关于制造业中纳米颗粒使用情况的全国性代表性研究。获得的信息可用于定量风险评估。它还可以帮助决策者设计支持开发纳米材料更安全使用的战略。鉴于目前纳米颗粒的低使用量，仍然有时间主动引入防护方法。如果预测的“纳米革命”成为现实，现在是采取行动的时候了。
