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Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access published online on July 16, 2008
Annals of Occupational Hygiene, doi:10.1093/annhyg/men041
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society

Application of a Pilot Control Banding Tool for Risk Level Assessment and Control of Nanoparticle Exposures

Samuel Y. Paik1, David M. Zalk1,* and Paul Swuste2

1 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, PO Box 808, L-871 Livermore, CA 94551, USA
2 Safety Science Group, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5015, Delft 2600 GA, The Netherlands

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 925-422-8904; fax: +1 925-423-1052; e-mail: zalk1{at}llnl.gov

Control banding (CB) strategies offer simplified solutions for controlling worker exposures to constituents that are found in the workplace in the absence of firm toxicological and exposure data. These strategies may be particularly useful in nanotechnology applications, considering the overwhelming level of uncertainty over what nanomaterials and nanotechnologies present as potential work-related health risks, what about these materials might lead to adverse toxicological activity, how risk related to these might be assessed and how to manage these issues in the absence of this information. This study introduces a pilot CB tool or ‘CB Nanotool’ that was developed specifically for characterizing the health aspects of working with engineered nanoparticles and determining the level of risk and associated controls for five ongoing nanotechnology-related operations being conducted at two Department of Energy research laboratories. Based on the application of the CB Nanotool, four of the five operations evaluated in this study were found to have implemented controls consistent with what was recommended by the CB Nanotool, with one operation even exceeding the required controls for that activity. The one remaining operation was determined to require an upgrade in controls. By developing this dynamic CB Nanotool within the realm of the scientific information available, this application of CB appears to be a useful approach for assessing the risk of nanomaterial operations, providing recommendations for appropriate engineering controls and facilitating the allocation of resources to the activities that most need them.

CB Nanotool • control banding • exposure control • nanomaterial • nanoparticle • nanotechnology • risk assessment • risk level • toolkit

Received March 11, 2008; in final form May 16, 2008


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