Assessment of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter in a dental clinic and health risks to clinic personnel

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess (1) levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) in a dental clinic in southern Taiwan and (2) dental care personnel's health risks associated with due to chronic exposure to VOCs. An automatic, continuous sampling system and a multi-gas monitor were employed to quantify the air pollutants, along with environmental comfort factors, including temperature, CO2, and relative humidity at six sampling sites in the clinic over eight days. Specific VOC compounds were identified and their concentrations were quantified. Both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic VOC compounds were assessed based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's Principles of Health Risk Assessment in terms of whether those indoor air pollutants increased health risks for the full-time dental care professionals at the clinic. Increased levels of VOCs were recorded during business hours and exceeded limits recommended by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency. A total of 68 VOC compounds were identified in the study area. Methylene methacrylate (2.8 ppm) and acetone (0.176 ppm) were the only two non-carcinogenic compounds that posed increased risks for human health, yielding hazard indexes of 16.4 and 4.1, respectively. None of the carcinogenic compounds increased cancer risk. All detected PM10 levels ranged from 20 to 150 μg/m(3), which met the Taiwan EPA and international limits. The average PM10 level during business hours was significantly higher than that during non-business hours (P = 0.04). Improved ventilation capacity in the air conditioning system was recommended to reduce VOCs and PM levels.

Quantitative and qualitative assessment of microbial aerosols in different indoor environments of a dental school clinic

“…Human density is a very effective factor in PM and microbial aerosol concentrations in the air of densely occupied wards, such as an educational environment in dental school. The PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations obtained in this study are comparable with the data reported by some studies (Helmis et al 2008 ; Hong et al 2015 ). Sotiriou et al ( 2008 ) demonstrated that the drilling actions during surgery in the dental office are related with the particles smaller than 0.5 μm and no significant levels of larger particles (larger than 1 μm) were correlated with these treatment actions.…”

“…In our study, the increased PM levels were observed in the periodontics ward, which can be due to the treatment procedure used in this ward of the dental clinic. Scaling by high-speed dental handpieces, tooth extraction, and oral surgeries are possible main sources of PM levels (Hong et al 2015 ). On the other hand, the high numbers of patients, dental staff, and dental students may cause an increase in PM concentrations.…”

Mitigating saliva aerosol contamination in a dental school clinic

“…Although several studies intended to assess the dissemination of aerosol by measuring bacterial contamination in the dental operatory [9,17,18], only a handful of studies directly measured the aerosol's dissemination [19][20][21]. However, these studies either measured the aerosol level in the whole area of dental office which includes multiple dental chairs/operatories, or measured the generation of aerosols in a long period of time (ranged from a day to a week) [20,21]. In addition, some studies used manikin or extracted teeth instead of patients [12,19], which failed to simulate dental aerosols that contains a mixture of patient's saliva and fluid with compressed air and water.…”

Removal efficiency of central vacuum system and protective masks to suspended particles from dental treatment

“…During dental treatment procedures, dentists and all dental staff may expose to bioaerosols [4,5] and PMs [6–8]. Previous studies indicated that aerosols exposure was related to the risks of respiratory, liver, renal, and nervous systems dysfunction [9–11]. However, no study was evaluated the relationship between health effects of dental healthcare workers and aerosols exposure during dental treatment.…”

“…One study in the United States reported that dental procedures produced considerably more PM 0.3–0.5 (particulate matter 0.3–0.5 μm in size) (2.32×10 8 –3.74×10 8 particles/m 3 ) than those that were present in the background air (2.22×10 8 particles/m 3 ) [6]. Others have reported higher PM concentrations during dental therapy procedures than during non-working periods (i.e., indoor background) [6,7,11–13].…”