A pilot study towards ranking occupational health risk factors emanating from engineered nanoparticles: review of a decade of literature

Abstract

As benefi cial applications of nanotechnologies in industry and medicine continue to emerge, so do new problems associated with engineered nanoparticle (ENP) production, which so far is going ahead without prior evaluation of its impact on human health and environment. Worker exposure continues to increase while no global consensus on ENP regulation has been reached. Protection of workers requires an approach to risk management properly adapted to the ENP context. Although ENP properties have been studied in depth over the past 10 years, much uncertainty continues to loom over the defi nition of the key parameters. The aim of this review of the literature was to construct a detailed list of known risks associated with ENPs from an occupational health and safety perspective. A hierarchised network of risks was thus revealed, illustrating the complexity of the system in terms of interdependence of elements of risk.