The film formation of an acrylate latex with a glass transition temperature of 38 °C has been achieved through the use of near-infrared (NIR) radiative heating. A hard, crack-free coating was obtained without the addition of plasticizers. Sintering of acrylate particles was confirmed through measurements using atomic force microscopy. The addition of an NIR-absorbing polymer increased the rate of particle deformation such that it was significantly greater than obtained in a convection oven at 60 °C. The results are consistent with a lower polymer viscosity under infrared radiation, according to a simple analysis using a standard model of sintering.

The occupational risks associated with the chemical toxicity of uranium can be overlooked during the processing, handling and storage of the material, as the radioactivity of the material is often used alone to assess the health consequences of exposure to uranium compounds. This note provides a summary of the current United Kingdom occupational standards for uranium based on radiation dose and/or chemical toxicity with a particular focus on intake via inhalation. A simple model is subsequently presented to allow a comparison to be drawn between the occupational exposure standard for chemical toxicity and radiological dose limit. Using these data a set of suggested limits on occupational exposure to airborne uranium is proposed that indicate where the legal annual radiological dose limit for workers or the Health and Safety Executive occupational exposure standard for chemical toxicity are at risk of being breached.

The principle of As Low As Reasonable Achievable (ALARA) stems from the field of radiological protection. In the UK, this principle has been incorporated into the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and rather than applying solely to radiological hazards, applies to all hazards in totality. Given that the current methods for assessing hazards are somewhat isolated, in that one hazard is assessed independently of another, it can be challenging to ensure a truly holistic view of the risks, and demonstrate they have been reduced to ALARA or As Low As Is Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) as required in the UK regulatory regime. The following paper presents a proposed framework for the integrated assessment of risks from multiple hazards. In addition, it presents an overview of some of the key challenges that may be encountered when producing a holistic ALARA demonstration.

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