Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDÆA-CSIC), C/ Jordi Girona 18, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Barcelona University, Chemistry Faculty, C/ de Martí i Franquès, 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC)- AICE - Universitat Jaume I, Campus Universitario Riu Sec, Av. Vicent Sos Baynat s/n, 12006 Castellón, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Jun 25;671:474-487. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.347. Epub 2019 Mar 26.
Packing of raw materials in work environments is a known source of potential health impacts (respiratory, cardiovascular) due to exposure to airborne particles. This activity was selected to test different exposure and risk assessment tools, aiming to understand the effectiveness of source enclosure as a strategy to mitigate particle release. Worker exposure to particle mass and number concentrations was monitored during packing of 7 ceramic materials in 3 packing lines in different settings, with low (L), medium (M) and high (H) degrees of source enclosure. Results showed that packing lines L and M significantly increased exposure concentrations (119-609 μg m respirable, 1150-4705 μg m inhalable, 24,755-51,645 cm particle number), while non-significant increases were detected in line H. These results evidence the effectiveness of source enclosure as a mitigation strategy, in the case of packing of ceramic materials. Total deposited particle surface area during packing ranged between 5.4 and 11.8 × 10 μm min, with particles depositing mainly in the alveoli (51-64%) followed by head airways (27-41%) and trachea bronchi (7-10%). The comparison between the results from different risk assessment tools (Stoffenmanager, ART, NanoSafer) and the actual measured exposure concentrations evidenced that all of the tools overestimated exposure concentrations, by factors of 1.5-8. Further research is necessary to bridge the current gap between measured and modelled health risk assessments.
在工作环境中，原材料的包装是潜在健康影响（呼吸、心血管）的已知来源，因为会暴露于空气中的颗粒。这项活动被选中是为了测试不同的暴露和风险评估工具，旨在了解源封闭作为减轻颗粒释放策略的有效性。在不同的环境中，在 3 条包装线中包装 7 种陶瓷材料时，监测了工人对颗粒质量和数量浓度的暴露。包装线 L 和 M 显著增加了暴露浓度（可吸入呼吸性 119-609μg/m3，可吸入呼吸性 1150-4705μg/m3，24755-51645cm 颗粒数），而包装线 H 的暴露浓度没有显著增加。这些结果证明了源封闭作为一种缓解策略的有效性，适用于包装陶瓷材料的情况。包装过程中总沉积颗粒表面积在 5.4 到 11.8×10μm min 之间，颗粒主要沉积在肺泡（51-64%），其次是头部气道（27-41%）和气管支气管（7-10%）。不同风险评估工具（Stoffenmanager、ART、NanoSafer）和实际测量的暴露浓度之间的结果比较表明，所有工具都高估了暴露浓度，倍数为 1.5-8。需要进一步研究来缩小实际测量和建模健康风险评估之间的差距。
