Advanced REACH Tool: A Bayesian Model for Occupational Exposure Assessment

Abstract

This paper describes a Bayesian model for the assessment of inhalation exposures in an occupational setting; the methodology underpins a freely available web-based application for exposure assessment, the Advanced REACH Tool (ART). The ART is a higher tier exposure tool that combines disparate sources of information within a Bayesian statistical framework. The information is obtained from expert knowledge expressed in a calibrated mechanistic model of exposure assessment, data on inter- and intra-individual variability in exposures from the literature, and context-specific exposure measurements. The ART provides central estimates and credible intervals for different percentiles of the exposure distribution, for full-shift and long-term average exposures. The ART can produce exposure estimates in the absence of measurements, but the precision of the estimates improves as more data become available. The methodology presented in this paper is able to utilize partially analogous data, a novel approach designed to make efficient use of a sparsely populated measurement database although some additional research is still required before practical implementation. The methodology is demonstrated using two worked examples: an exposure to copper pyrithione in the spraying of antifouling paints and an exposure to ethyl acetate in shoe repair.

Anemia risk in relation to lead exposure in lead-related manufacturing

“…Our approach had also been widely used in exposure analysis and risk decision-making in environmental and occupational health research [28, 29]. …”

Toxicological risk at workplace and toxicity as Life Cycle Assessment impact category: substitution of solvents as an example

“…Exposure estimates for the different solvents as delivered by the Advanced REACH Tool (McNally et al, 2014[ 13 ]) are summarized in Table 4 (Tab. 4) .…”

“…The toxicological data of the naphtha solvents as well as for the substitutes will be revisited. With the help of the workers exposure modelling program “Advanced REACH Tool” (ART) (McNally et al, 2014[ 13 ]) exposure will be calculated and matched against the derived no effect levels (DNEL) or derived maximum exposure levels (DMEL) and existing official occupational exposure limits in Germany.…”

Estimating past inhalation exposure to asbestos: A tool for risk attribution and disease screening

“…Using the mean of two or three independent assessors can reduce the variability in the final estimates (Semple et al, 2001) and in addition reconstructing exposure for a lifetime work history comprising several jobs would also result in reduced variability. Use of any available exposure measurement data, within a Bayesian framework, could improve the accuracy of the estimates further (McNally et al, 2014).…”