Evaluation of personal exposure of workers to indium concentrations in total dust and its respirable fraction at three Japanese indium plants.
Ind Health
; 57(3): 392-397, 2019 Jun 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30068895
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate personal exposures of 27 workers to indium compounds as "total" dust and its "respirable" fraction in their breathing zones at 3 Japanese indium plants. Eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) indium concentrations of personal exposure to dust collected in sampling periods of 6â
h or longer were determined by ICP-MS. The arithmetic means of exposure concentrations were 0.095â
mg indium (In)/m3, when sampled as total dust, and 0.059â
mg In/m3, as respirable fraction. ACGIH's TLV-TWA of 0.1â
mg In/m3 for total particulate matter and Acceptable Exposure Concentration Limit (AECL) of 3×10-4â
mg In/m3 for the respirable fraction notified by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare were used to evaluate the exposure concentrations. Twenty-five out of 27 workers were exposed to indium concentrations lower than TLV-TWA, while all of the workers were exposed to the indium concentrations higher than AECL. We noted that there was a large discrepancy between the two occupational exposure limits referred to in this report, and these differences were attributed to the sampling strategies and health effects used as the prevention targets. Carcinogenicity of the respirable fraction of indium-containing particulates was considered in setting AECL, whereas it was not in ACGIH's TLV.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Exposição Ocupacional
/
Exposição por Inalação
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Índio
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article