Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2013;10(9):487-95. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2013.818231.
Manufacturing of nanoscale materials (nanomaterials) is a major outcome of nanotechnology. However, the potential adverse human health effects of manufactured nanomaterial exposure are not yet fully understood, and exposures in humans are mostly uncharacterized. Appropriate exposure control strategies to protect workers are still being developed and evaluated, and regulatory approaches rely largely on industry self-regulation and self-reporting. In this context of soft regulation, the authors sought to: 1) assess current company-reported environmental health and safety practices in the United States throughout the product life cycle, 2) consider their implications for the manufactured nanomaterial workforce, and 3) identify the needs of manufactured nanomaterial companies in developing nano-protective environmental health and safety practices. Analysis was based on the responses of 45 U.S.-based company participants in a 2009-2010 international survey of private companies that use and/or produce nanomaterials. Companies reported practices that span all aspects of the current government-recommended hierarchical approach to manufactured nanomaterials' exposure controls. However, practices that were tailored to current manufactured nanomaterials' hazard and exposure knowledge, whether within or outside the hierarchical approach, were reported less frequently than general chemical hygiene practices. Product stewardship and waste management practices-the influences of which are substantially downstream-were reported less frequently than most other environmental health and safety practices. Larger companies had more workers handling nanomaterials, but smaller companies had proportionally more employees handling nanomaterials and more frequently identified impediments to implementing nano-protective practices. Company-reported environmental health and safety practices suggest more attention to environmental health and safety is necessary, especially with regard to practices that can cause external effects. Given reported impediments, smaller companies may especially benefit from more attention. However, the manufactured nanomaterial workforce within smaller companies is particularly difficult to identify and hence locate, posing challenges to developing and enforcing appropriate workplace environmental health and safety. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene for the following free supplemental resource: a file containing Survey of Current Health and Safety Practices in the Nanomaterial Industry and a file containing figures.].
纳米材料（纳米材料）的制造是纳米技术的主要成果。然而，制造纳米材料暴露对人类健康的潜在不利影响尚未得到充分理解，人类暴露的情况大多未被描述。为了保护工人，适当的暴露控制策略仍在制定和评估中，监管方法主要依赖于行业自律和自我报告。在这种软监管的背景下，作者试图：1）评估美国整个产品生命周期中公司目前报告的环境健康和安全实践，2）考虑其对制造纳米材料劳动力的影响，3）确定制造纳米材料公司在制定纳米保护环境健康和安全实践方面的需求。分析基于 2009-2010 年对使用和/或生产纳米材料的 45 家美国公司的国际调查中 45 家美国公司参与者的答复。公司报告的实践涵盖了当前政府推荐的制造纳米材料暴露控制分层方法的所有方面。然而，无论是在分层方法内还是外，针对当前制造纳米材料危害和暴露知识量身定制的实践比一般的化学卫生实践报告得更频繁。产品管理和废物管理实践——其影响主要在下游——比其他大多数环境健康和安全实践报告得更频繁。较大的公司有更多的工人处理纳米材料，但较小的公司处理纳米材料的员工比例更高，并且更频繁地发现实施纳米保护实践的障碍。公司报告的环境健康和安全实践表明，需要更加关注环境健康和安全，特别是对于可能造成外部影响的实践。鉴于报告的障碍，较小的公司可能特别受益于更多的关注。然而，较小公司的制造纳米材料劳动力特别难以识别和定位，这给制定和执行适当的工作场所环境健康和安全带来了挑战。[本文提供了补充材料。请访问出版商的《职业与环境卫生杂志》在线版，获取以下免费补充资源：一份包含纳米材料行业当前健康和安全实践调查的文件和一份包含图表的文件。]
