Potential exposure of amateurs (consumers) through painting wood preservative and antifoulant preparations

Abstract

Data are presented for work patterns, inhalation and potential dermal exposure for amateurs painting wood preservatives to garden structures, and antifoulants to leisure boats. The results are quoted as rates of in-use product deposition or time-weighted inhaled product concentrations. Quoting data in this general and normalized form enables predictive risk assessment. The product densities were assumed to be 1.0 gml(-1). Inhalation exposure was detected in about 40% of the surveys, being about 100 times higher for wood preservatives than for antifoulants. The maximum airborne wood preservative concentration was 8.03 mg m(-3), measured over the period of painting (that is not an 8h time-weighted average value). Regarding potential dermal exposure, the processes are only broadly comparable. Most of the data appear to fall into relatively narrow distributions, with median values around 5 mg min(-1) (for preservatives) and around 16 mg min(-1) (for antifoulants). About half of the deposit on clothing was found to occur below the waist. The data comparing gloved and bare hand working indicate that even simple gloves offer a degree of protection for skin.