A Small Business Approach to Nanomaterial Environment, Health, and Safety

Gause, Charles B.; Layman, Rachel M.; Small, Aaron C.

doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e31821ad5f1

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The study by Gause et al . [16] reported a surveillance program in a small business in the USA with approximately 200 workers of which 20% were exposed to ENMs. One study initially reported findings from 2012 [22], with 20 exposed workers (16 in production and 4 in research positions) and 20 control participants, as well as, findings from 2013, with 28 exposed workers (14 in production and 14 in office positions) and 25 control participants [22].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One study was a case study [17], three were cross-sectional in design [18,20,21], one was stated as longitudinal, but was a follow-up cross sectional study [19] and one study was a case study that reported results pre- and post-shift exposure [23]. One study was conducted in Virginia, United States [16], one in the Czech Republic [23], three in Taiwan [18,19,20] and two in South Korea [17,21]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) was performed in four studies [16, 18, 19, 21–23]. Lee et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The surveillance program described by Gause et al . [16] also undertook baseline and periodic lung function tests as well as chest X-rays on all at-risk workers [5]. Liou et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic Review of Screening and Surveillance Programs to Protect Workers from Nanomaterials

et al. 2016

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BackgroundScreening and surveillance approaches for workers exposed to nanomaterials could aid in early detection of health effects, provide data for epidemiological studies and inform action to decrease exposure. The aim of this review is to identify such screening and surveillance approaches, in order to extract available data regarding (i) the studies that have successfully been implemented in present day, (ii) identification of the most common and/or toxic nano-related health hazards for workers and (iii) possible exposure surveillance markers. This review contributes to the current understanding of the risk associated with nanomaterials by determining the knowledge gap and making recommendations based on current findings.MethodsA systematic review was conducted. PubMed and Embase were searched to identify articles reporting on any surveillance-related study that described both exposure to nanomaterials and the health indicators that were measured. Four reviewers worked in pairs to independently assess the eligibility of studies and risk of bias before extraction of data. Studies were categorised according to the type of study and the medical surveillance performed, which included the type of nanomaterial, any exposure details provided, as well as health indicators and biomarkers tested.ResultsInitially 92 studies were identified, from which 84 full texts were assessed for eligibility. Seven studies met all the inclusion criteria, i.e. those performed in Taiwan, Korea, Czech Republic and the US. Of these, six compared health indicators between exposed and unexposed workers and one study described a surveillance program. All studies were at a high risk of bias. Workers were exposed to a mix of nanomaterials in three studies, carbon-based nanomaterials in two studies, nano-silver in one study and nano-titanium oxide in the other study. Two studies did not find a difference in biomarkers between exposed and unexposed workers. In addition, differences in early effects on pulmonary function or neurobehavioral tests were not observed. One study found an increased prevalence of allergic dermatitis and “sneezing” in the exposed group.ConclusionsThis review of recently published data on surveillance studies proves that there is a gap in the current knowledge, where most of the surveillance-related studies reported do not follow a set format that provides the required information on ENM characterisation, the type of exposure and the measured indicators/biomarkers. Hence, there is very low quality evidence that screening and surveillance might detect adverse health effects associated with workplace exposure. This systematic review is relevant because it proves that, although surveillance programs have been initiated and preliminary results are being published, the current studies are actually not answering the important questions or solving the overall problem regarding what the potential health hazards are among workers either handling or potentially exposed to ENMs. The recommendations, thus proposed, are based on an ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic Review of Screening and Surveillance Programs to Protect Workers from Nanomaterials

et al. 2016

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“…Examples of current medical surveillance were described in a variety of industrial and academic contexts. [27][28][29] The concerns raised at the conference about the limitations of medical surveillance with present technology, while important to address, do not outweigh the future benefits that detailed worker registries will accrue, namely aid to epidemiologists in rapidly addressing type 1, 2, and 3 disasters. Finally, we must keep in mind that populations other than workers may experience significant exposure in the future, so that proactive monitoring now may pay great dividends as ENM proliferate in society.…”

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confidence: 99%

Engineered Nanomaterials

Kreider

Halperin

2011

Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine

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Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health

Canu

Schulte

Riediker

et al. 2017

J Epidemiol Community Health

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Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) raise questions among the scientific community and public health authorities about their potential risks to human health. Studying a prospective cohort of workers exposed to ENMs would be considered the gold standard for identifying potential health effects of nanotechnology and confirming the 'no effect' levels derived from cellular and animal models. However, because only small, cross-sectional studies have been conducted in the past 5 years, questions remain about the health risks of ENMs. This essay addresses the scientific, methodological, political and regulatory issues that make epidemiological research in nanotechnology-exposed communities particularly complex. Scientific challenges include the array of physicochemical parameters and ENM production conditions, the lack of universally accepted definitions of ENMs and nanotechnology workers, and the lack of information about modes of action, target organs and likely dose-response functions of ENMs. Standardisation of data collection and harmonisation of research protocols are needed to eliminate misclassification of exposures and health effects. Forming ENM worker cohorts from a combination of smaller cohorts and overcoming selection bias are also challenges. National or international registries for monitoring the exposures and health of ENM workers would be helpful for epidemiological studies, but the creation of such a registry and ENM worker cohorts will require political support and dedicated funding at the national and international levels. Public authorities and health agencies should consider carrying out an ENM awareness campaign to educate and engage all stakeholders and concerned communities in discussion of such a project.

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A Small Business Approach to Nanomaterial Environment, Health, and Safety

Abstract: Understanding and managing potential hazards to our nanotechnology workers is key to the success and acceptance of nanotechnology enabled products.

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

Systematic Review of Screening and Surveillance Programs to Protect Workers from Nanomaterials

Systematic Review of Screening and Surveillance Programs to Protect Workers from Nanomaterials

Engineered Nanomaterials

Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health

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