Abstract

Objectives: The major objective of this study was to develop a tier 2 exposure model combining tier 1 exposure model estimates and worker monitoring data and suggesting narrower exposure ranges than tier 1 results. Methods: Bayesian statistics were used to develop a tier 2 exposure model as was done for the European Union (EU) tier 2 exposure models, for example Advanced REACH Tools (ART) and Stoffenmanager. Bayesian statistics required a prior and data to calculate the posterior results. In this model, tier 1 estimated serving as a prior and worker exposure monitoring data at the worksite of interest were entered as data. The calculation of Bayesian statistics requires integration over a range, which were performed using a Riemann sum algorithm. From the calculated exposure estimates, 95% range was extracted. These algorithm have been realized on Excel spreadsheet for convenience and easy access. Some fail-proof features such as locking the spreadsheet were added in order to prevent errors or miscalculations derived from careless usage of the file. Results: The tier 2 exposure model was successfully built on a separate Excel spreadsheet in the same file containing tier 1 exposure model. To utilize the model, exposure range needs to be estimated from tier 1 model and worker monitoring data, at least one input are required. Conclusions: The developed tier 2 exposure model can help industrial hygienists obtain a narrow range of worker exposure level to a chemical by reflecting a certain set of job characteristics.

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