Qualitative and quantitative determination of chemicals and dust in the air of the work environment

Abstract

A four-stage health risk assessment model for chemicals and dust in the air of the work environment considering the new legislation, new technologies and market demands was worked out in the current study. The boundary lines between the risk levels were derived from the literature and experimental data. The experiments covered shale fuel oil handling, wood processing, opened car washing, and manufacturing of rubber based details for cars. In the work environment in Estonia, the legislative requirements are usually met and the hazardous and carcinogenic substances have been substituted. The problem arise with new technologies and unpleasant odors of substances during handling. Some workers might be allergic, but others could be disturbed only by the unpleasant odors. Our new four-stage model is based on the standard EN-EVS-15251, but the hazards statements of chemicals were also taken into account. The microclimate conditions influence on the developing the health risk level in the work environment. For example, in the furniture industry, where wood dust is the major risk factor, the disturbances of wood dust on health depend on the microclimate parameters such as relative humidity and temperature. Higher humidity and lower temperature of the air allow to reduce the spread of wood dust. The origin of the specific odor of shale oil (complex mixture) in the air of the work environment is difficult to determine. The workplace air quality depends on the vaporization rate of different toxic compounds, such as cyclohexa-1,3,5-triene , methylbenzene, 1,2-dimethylbenzene, hydroxybenzene etc. The presence of these hazardous substances were measured with the portable FTIR/FT-NIR spectrometer Interspec 301-X with open optical path. The dust concentration was measured with Haz-Dust5000 and particle distribution in wood dust with Fritsch Particle Sizer “analysette 22”.