Occupational Hygiene and Health Research Initiative (OHHRI), Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University , Potchefstroom , South Africa.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2019 Sep;16(9):643-655. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2019.1639719. Epub 2019 Jul 30.
Metal gouging and lancing liberate particles of an unknown size and composition. Fumes are formed when vaporized materials condense in air, creating fine and ultrafine particles which can agglomerate. Particle sizes may be <1 µm in diameter. Inhalation of this mixture of metal fumes can lead to adverse health effects. This study characterized fumes by particle size fractions and metal composition. As particles may be in the submicron range, the nano-size fraction was included. Randomized, side-by-side area samples of fumes liberated during gouging and lancing were collected. Samplers included the conductive plastic Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) samplers (inhalable fraction), GK2.69 stainless steel thoracic cyclones (thoracic fraction), aluminum respirable cyclones (respirable fraction), Nanoparticle Respiratory Deposition (NRD) samplers (nano-size fraction), and open-face filter cassettes (particle size distribution-PSD). Samplers were mounted at a height of between 1.3 m and 1.7 m, in the worst-case scenario area (down-wind). Forty-six samples were collected during gouging and 26 during lancing. Mass concentrations per fraction ranges (excluding nano-size) were found to be 1.27-17.27 mg/m (inhalable), 1.83-13.96 mg/m (thoracic) and 0.88-15.82 mg/m (respirable) for gouging; and 2.34-5.60 mg/m (inhalable), 2.82-4.01 mg/m (thoracic), and 1.89-3.24 mg/m (respirable) for lancing. PSD analysis confirmed the presence of nano-size particles with a mean size of 171.76 (±56.27) nm during gouging and 32.33 (±7.17) nm during lancing. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of samples indicated the presence of chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and tin (Sn) in the respective particle size fractions (including nano-size) of both processes. Negative health effects associated with metal inhalation are well known, while nanoparticles' unique properties enable them to cause further detrimental health effects. The nano-size fraction should be included in personal exposure assessments and control measures.
金属气割和刺孔会释放出大小和成分未知的颗粒。当蒸发的物质在空气中凝结时会形成烟雾，产生可聚集的细微和超细颗粒。颗粒直径可能小于 1 微米。吸入这种金属烟雾混合物可能会对健康造成不良影响。本研究通过颗粒大小分级和金属成分来描述烟雾。由于颗粒可能处于亚微米范围内，因此包括纳米尺寸分级。在气割和刺孔过程中，随机并排采集释放的烟雾进行采样。采样器包括导电性塑料职业医学研究所（IOM）采样器（可吸入部分）、GK2.69 不锈钢胸气旋（胸部分级）、铝呼吸气旋（呼吸部分级）、纳米颗粒呼吸沉积（NRD）采样器（纳米尺寸分级）和开面滤盒（粒径分布-PSD）。采样器安装在 1.3 米至 1.7 米的高度，在最坏情况区域（下风处）。在气割过程中收集了 46 个样本，在刺孔过程中收集了 26 个样本。发现各部分的质量浓度范围（不包括纳米尺寸）为 1.27-17.27mg/m（可吸入）、1.83-13.96mg/m（胸部分级）和 0.88-15.82mg/m（呼吸部分级）用于气割；2.34-5.60mg/m（可吸入）、2.82-4.01mg/m（胸部分级）和 1.89-3.24mg/m（呼吸部分级）用于刺孔。PSD 分析证实，气割过程中存在平均粒径为 171.76（±56.27）nm 的纳米尺寸颗粒，刺孔过程中存在平均粒径为 32.33（±7.17）nm 的纳米尺寸颗粒。对样品的电感耦合等离子体质谱分析（ICP-MS）表明，铬（Cr）、铜（Cu）、铁（Fe）、锰（Mn）、钼（Mo）、镍（Ni）和锡（Sn）存在于两种过程的相应颗粒尺寸分级（包括纳米尺寸分级）中。金属吸入引起的负面健康影响是众所周知的，而纳米颗粒的独特性质使它们能够造成进一步的有害健康影响。纳米尺寸分级应纳入个人暴露评估和控制措施中。
