Skip Navigation


Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on September 19, 2006
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2007 51(1):13-18; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mel059
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
51/1/13    most recent
mel059v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by CHERRIE, J. W.
Right arrow Articles by SEMPLE, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by CHERRIE, J. W.
Right arrow Articles by SEMPLE, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


©The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society

A New Sampler to Assess Dermal Exposure During Wet Working

JOHN W. CHERRIE1,*, ANDREW APSLEY1 and SEAN SEMPLE2

1 Institute of Occupational Medicine, Research Avenue North Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK
2 University of Aberdeen, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine Foresterhill Road, Aberdeen AB25 2ZP, UK

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +44 870 850 5132; e-mail: john.cherrie{at}iom-world.org

In the UK ~30% of cases of dermatitis reported to the national surveillance scheme are associated with wet working or exposure to aqueous mixtures. There is evidence that the duration and frequency that hands are wet are key determinants of risk, but there are no objective methods to measure these exposure factors. This research aimed to develop a practical tool to measure the duration and the number of occasions hands are wet. We developed an electronic sensor that is worn on the finger, which detects wetness from evaporative cooling. The output signal is recorded in electronic memory and the frequency and duration of exposure calculated using a simple data processing algorithm. The device has been tested in a variety of environmental conditions and for a standardized wet-work task. Wetting events were detectable in all the standardized tests, with the proportion of time the hands were wet ranging from 15 to 49% (mean 30%). The electronic sensor is slightly affected by abrupt changes in air temperature and rapid air movements, but these do not seem to impose any practical limitations. This IOM Wet-Work sampler has the potential to provide reliable measurements of exposure that may be used to assess the risk of contact dermatitis.

Keywords: exposure analysis • irritant contact dermatitis • wet-work


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.