Use of the dustiness index in combination with the handling energy factor for exposure modelling of nanomaterials.
NanoImpact
; 33: 100493, 2024 Jan.
Article
de En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38219948
ABSTRACT
The use of modelling tools in the occupational hygiene community has increased in the last years to comply with the different existing regulations. However, limitations still exist mainly due to the difficulty to obtain certain key parameters such as the emission rate, which in the case of powder handling can be estimated using the dustiness index (DI). The goal of this work is to explore the applicability and usability of the DI for emission source characterization and occupational exposure prediction to particles during nanomaterial powder handling. Modelling of occupational exposure concentrations of 13 case scenarios was performed using a two-box model as well as three nano-specific tools (Stoffenmanager nano, NanoSafer and GUIDEnano). The improvement of modelling performance by using a derived handling energy factor (H) was explored. Results show the usability of the DI for emission source characterization and respirable mass exposure modelling of powder handling scenarios of nanomaterials. A clear improvement in modelling outcome was obtained when using derived quartile-3 H factors with, 1) Pearson correlations of 0.88 vs. 0.52 (not using H), and 2) ratio of modelled/measured concentrations ranging from 0.9 to 10 in 75% cases vs. 16.7% of the cases when not using H. Particle number concentrations were generally underpredicted. Using the most conservative H values, predictions with ratios modelled/measured concentrations of 0.4-3.6 were obtained.
Mots clés
Texte intégral:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Base de données:
MEDLINE
Sujet principal:
Nanostructures
/
Polluants atmosphériques d'origine professionnelle
Type d'étude:
Prognostic_studies
Langue:
En
Journal:
NanoImpact
Année:
2024
Type de document:
Article
Pays de publication:
Pays-Bas