We demonstrated for the first time that actual dermal exposure to CP is common among oncology nurses working with patients treated with this anti-neoplastic drug. Pharmacy technicians and cleaning personnel, on the other hand, are potentially exposed to CP, and protection provided by gloves seemed to be sufficient.

Antineoplastic drugs may reduce fertility and increase poor neonatal outcomes among occupationally exposed oncology nurses.

As workplace air measurements of manufactured nanoparticles are relatively expensive to conduct, models can be helpful for a first tier assessment of exposure. A conceptual model was developed to give a framework for such models. The basis for the model is an analysis of the fate and underlying mechanisms of nanoparticles emitted by a source during transport to a receptor. Four source domains are distinguished; that is, production, handling of bulk product, dispersion of ready-to-use nanoproducts, fracturing and abrasion of end products. These domains represent different generation mechanisms that determine particle emission characteristics; for example, emission rate, particle size distribution, and source location. During transport, homogeneous coagulation, scavenging, and surface deposition will determine the fate of the particles and cause changes in both particle size distributions and number concentrations. The degree of impact of these processes will be determined by a variety of factors including the concentration and size mode of the emitted nanoparticles and background aerosols, source to receptor distance, and ventilation characteristics. The second part of the paper focuses on to what extent the conceptual model could be fit into an existing mechanistic predictive model for ''conventional'' exposures. The model should be seen as a framework for characterization of exposure to (manufactured) nanoparticles and future exposure modeling.

Objectives For regulatory risk assessment under REACH a tiered approach is proposed in which the first tier models should provide a conservative exposure estimate that can discriminate between scenarios which are of concern and those which are not. The Stoffenmanager is mentioned as a first tier approach in the REACH guidance. In an attempt to investigate the validity of the Stoffenmanager algorithms, a cross-validation study was performed.Methods Exposure estimates using the Stoffenmanager algorithms were compared with exposure measurement results (n¼254). Correlations between observed and predicted exposures, bias and precision were calculated. Stratified analyses were performed for the scenarios "handling of powders and granules" (n¼82), "handling solids resulting in comminuting" (n¼60), "handling of low-volatile liquids" (n¼40) and "handling of volatile liquids" (n¼72).Results The relative bias of the four algorithms ranged between À9% and À77% with a precision of approximately 1.7. The 90th percentile estimate of one out of four algorithms was not conservative enough. Based on these statistics and analyses of residual plots the underlying algorithm was adapted. Subsequently, the calibration and the cross-validation dataset were merged into one dataset (n¼952) used for calibrating the adapted Stoffenmanager algorithms. This new calibration resulted in new exposure algorithms for the four scenarios. Conclusions The Stoffenmanager is capable of discriminating among exposure levels mainly between scenarios in different companies. The 90th percentile estimates of the Stoffenmanager are verified to be sufficiently conservative. Therefore, the Stoffenmanager could be a useful tier 1 exposure assessment tool for REACH.

This broad-scale exposure study gives a comprehensive overview of the NOAA exposure situations in the Netherlands and an indication of the levels of occupational exposure to NOAA across various life cycle of NOAA. The collected workplace exposure data and contextual information will serve as basis for future pooling of data and modelling of worker exposure.

The mechanistic model of the Advanced Reach Tool (ART) provides a relative ranking of exposure levels from different scenarios. The objectives of the calibration described in this paper are threefold: to study whether the mechanistic model scores are accurately ranked in relation to exposure measurements; to enable the mechanistic model to estimate actual exposure levels rather than relative scores; and to provide a method of quantifying model uncertainty. Stringent data quality guidelines were applied to the collated data. Linear mixed effects models were used to evaluate the association between relative ART model scores and measurements. A random scenario and company component of variance were introduced to reflect the model uncertainty. Stratified analyses were conducted for different forms of exposure (abrasive dust, dust, vapours and mists). In total more than 2000 good quality measurements were available for the calibration of the mechanistic model. The calibration showed that after calibration the mechanistic model of ART was able to estimate geometric mean (GM) exposure levels with 90% confidence for a given scenario to lie within a factor between two and six of the measured GM depending upon the form of exposure.

This paper reports a study of the dispersion of manufactured nano-objects (MNOs) through the air, both in time and space, during the use of two commercially available nano-spray products and comparable products without MNOs. The main objective was to identify whether personal exposure can occur at a greater distance than the immediate proximity of the source (>1 m from the source), that is, in the "far field" (bystanders), or at a period after the emission occurred (re-entry). The spray experiments were conducted in an experimental room with well-controlled environmental and ventilation conditions (19.5 m(3)). The concentration of MNOs was investigated by measuring real-time size distribution, number, and active surface area concentration. For off-line analysis of the particles in the air, samples for scanning/transmission electron microscopy and elemental analysis were collected. The release of MNOs was measured at ∼30 and 290 cm from the source ("near field" and "far field", respectively). For all four spray products, the maximum number and surface area concentrations in the "near field" exceeded the maximum concentrations reached in the "far field". At 2 min after the emission occurred, the concentration in both the "near field" and "far field" reached a comparable steady-state level above background level. These steady-state concentrations remained elevated above background concentration throughout the entire measurement period (12 min). The results of the real-time measurement devices mainly reflect the liquid aerosols emitted by the spray process itself rather than only the MNO, which hampers the interpretation of the results. However, the combination of the off-line analysis and the results of the real-time devices indicates that after the use of nano-spray products, personal exposure to MNOs can occur not only in the near field, but also at a greater distance than the immediate proximity of the source and at a period after emission occurred.

The world-wide production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has increased substantially in the last decade, leading to occupational exposures. There is a paucity of exposure data of workers involved in the commercial production of CNTs. The goals of this study were to assess personal exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) during the synthesis and handling of MWCNTs in a commercial production facility and to link these exposure levels to specific activities. Personal full-shift filter-based samples were collected, during commercial production and handling of MWCNTs, R&D activities, and office work. The concentrations of MWCNT were evaluated on the basis of EC concentrations. Associations were studied between observed MWCNT exposure levels and location and activities. SEM analyses showed MWCNTs, present as agglomerates ranging between 200 nm and 100 µm. Exposure levels of MWCNTs observed in the production area during the full scale synthesis of MWCNTs (N = 23) were comparable to levels observed during further handling of MWCNTs (N = 19): (GM (95% lower confidence limit-95% upper confidence limit)) 41 μg m −3 (20-88) versus 43 μg m −3 (22-86), respectively. In the R&D area (N = 11) and the office (N = 5), exposure levels of MWCNTs were significantly (P < 0.05) lower: 5 μg m −3 (2-11) and 7 μg m −3 (2-28), respectively. Bagging, maintenance of the reactor, and powder conditioning were associated with higher exposure levels in the production area, whereas increased exposure levels in the R&D area were related to handling of MWCNTs powder.