Education
SS 002
Exposure Scenarios for Nanomaterial Workers and Workplaces: Trends and Hot Issues
Tuesday | 1:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. |
Topics:
Nanotechnology, Symposia
Arranger: M. Riediker, Institute for Work and Health, Lausanne, Switzerland. Moderators: M. Rosenow, Argonne National Lab, Argonne, IL; M. Riediker, Institute for Work and Health, Lausanne, Switzerland; Monitors: R. Goldman, 3M Company, St. Paul, MN; P. Webb, Webb Associates, LLC, Worcester, MA.
Exposure scenarios are key tools to assess the risks of a material and substance and to define appropriate risk management strategies. Compared to regular chemical agents, nanomaterials bring additional uncertainties and complexity that are related to i) how exposure must be described (a nanomaterial concentration is multi-metric with characteristics such as size distribution, number, surface properties, shape, etc.), ii) the dependence of the hazard-exposure relationship on a multitude of these factors and iii) the fact that there is a considerable lack of good quality exposure data. In the absence of a good understanding of these issues, good documentation of exposure is a challenge but one that must be addressed by all that are already confronted with workers and workplaces dealing with nanomaterials. This roundtable will focus on issues related to the development of exposure scenarios for nanomaterials. How can they be built up, what are regulatory needs in the USA, what are strategies to develop exposure scenarios under the European REACH regulation? Roundtable participants will focus on what is currently known, and what are the challenges for developing scenarios for regulatory risk assessment, for trade promotion, and for research of exposure and health effects. This roundtable will provide the state of knowledge and will discuss current trends in Europe and the USA.
- Workers Exposure and Health at Nanomaterial Workplaces — An Overview. M. Riediker, Institute for Work and Health, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Nanomaterials Documentation in the USA Status of the Science and Knowledge. C. Geraci, NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH.
- Use of Exposure (and Health) Data for Epidemiological Studies. M. Schubauer-Berigan, NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH.
- REACH Exposure Scenarios for Nanomaterial Workers and Workplaces. M. Van Tongeren, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
- The Challenge to Measure all the Data Needed for a Nanomaterial Exposure Scenario. S. Tsai, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Dracut, MA.
- From Theory to Practice: Experiences of a Service Provider with Nanomaterial Exposure Documentation. D. Ewert, nanoTox, Inc., nanoTox, Inc., TX.
- Roundtable Discussion. M. Riediker, Institute for Work and Health, Lausanne, Switzerland.
