Stantec ChemRisk, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Stantec ChemRisk, Arlington, VA, USA.
Toxicol Ind Health. 2023 Sep;39(9):528-536. doi: 10.1177/07482337231187092.
Man-made vitreous fibers (MMVF) are a class of inorganic fibrous materials that include glass and mineral wools, continuous glass filaments, and refractory ceramic fibers valued for their insulative properties in high temperature applications. Potential health effects from occupational exposure to MMVF have been investigated since the 1970s, with focus on incidence of respiratory tract cancer among MMVF-exposed production workers. The general population may experience exposure to MMVF in residential and/or commercial buildings due to deterioration, construction, or other disruption of materials containing these fibers. Numerous studies have characterized potential exposures that may occur during material disruption or installation; however, fewer have aimed to measure background MMVF concentrations in residential and commercial spaces (i.e., non-production settings) to which the general population may be exposed. In this study, we reviewed and synthesized peer-reviewed studies that evaluated respirable MMVF exposure levels in non-production, indoor environments. Among studies that analyzed airborne respirable MMVF concentrations, 110-fold and 1.5-fold differences in estimated concentrations were observed for those studies utilizing phase contrast optical microscopy (PCOM) versus transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between respirable air concentrations of MMVF and total surface concentrations of MMVF in seldom-cleaned areas. Ultimately, available evidence suggests that both ambient air and surface concentrations of MMVF in indoor environments are consistently lower than exposure limits developed to prevent negative health outcomes among sensitive populations.
人造玻璃体纤维（MMVF）是一类无机纤维材料，包括玻璃和矿棉、连续玻璃纤维以及耐火陶瓷纤维，因其在高温应用中的绝缘性能而备受重视。自 20 世纪 70 年代以来，人们一直在研究职业接触 MMVF 对健康的潜在影响，重点是暴露于 MMVF 的生产工人中呼吸道癌症的发病率。由于材料恶化、建筑或其他破坏，一般人群可能会在住宅和/或商业建筑中接触 MMVF。许多研究已经对可能在材料破坏或安装过程中发生的潜在暴露进行了描述；然而，较少的研究旨在测量一般人群可能接触到的住宅和商业空间（即非生产环境）中的背景 MMVF 浓度。在这项研究中，我们回顾并综合了评估非生产性室内环境中可吸入 MMVF 暴露水平的同行评审研究。在分析空气传播可吸入 MMVF 浓度的研究中，分别利用相差光学显微镜（PCOM）与透射电子显微镜（TEM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）分析的研究中，估计浓度相差 110 倍和 1.5 倍。在很少清洁的区域，可吸入空气中 MMVF 的浓度与 MMVF 的总表面浓度之间存在正相关关系。最终，现有证据表明，室内环境中 MMVF 的环境空气和表面浓度均明显低于为预防敏感人群负面健康结果而制定的暴露限值。
