On December 7, 2011, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted an item on its Science Blog entitled “Respiratory Protection for Workers Handling Engineered Nanoparticles.”
The purpose of the blog item is to provide an update on the science and rationale behind NIOSH’s recommendations for the use and selection of respirators against engineered nanoparticles.
The article summarizes respirator performance research and respirator selection.
Concerning next steps, NIOSH states that, while its research to date has been done in laboratory settings, using filtration test systems and manikins under aggressive test conditions, further research is needed in field settings and using human test subjects.
According to NIOSH, “[w]ell-designed studies on face seal leakage of nanoparticles, especially workplace protection factor (WPF) studies that validate assigned protection factor (APF) levels for respirators against nanoparticles will be important,” and such studies are already underway.
The article summarizes respirator performance research and respirator selection.
Concerning next steps, NIOSH states that, while its research to date has been done in laboratory settings, using filtration test systems and manikins under aggressive test conditions, further research is needed in field settings and using human test subjects.
According to NIOSH, “[w]ell-designed studies on face seal leakage of nanoparticles, especially workplace protection factor (WPF) studies that validate assigned protection factor (APF) levels for respirators against nanoparticles will be important,” and such studies are already underway.
Fonte: Nanotechnology Law Blog
