Documents Santonen, Tiina 4 results

"Diesel engine exhaust is a complex mixture of gaseous and particulate compounds produced during the combustion of diesel fuels. The gas phase includes carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide and small amounts of sulphur dioxide and various organic compounds. Diesel exhaust particles (DEP) contain elemental carbon (EC), organic compounds, sulphates, nitrates and trace amounts of metals and other elements. New technology diesel engines are characterised by a significant reduction of the DEP mass emissions. Occupational exposure to diesel exhaust occurs in mining, construction work, professional driving, agri-culture and other activities where diesel-powered vehicles and tools are applied. The critical health effects of diesel exhaust are considered to be pulmonary inflammation and lung cancer. For older technology diesel engines, pulmonary inflammatory responses were observed in human volunteers after single exposure at 100
g DEP/m3 (~ 75
g EC/m3), and in rats after long-term exposure at 210
g DEP/m3 (~ 160
g EC/m3). Development of lung tumours was seen in rats at 2 200
g DEP/m3 (~ 1 650
g EC/m3). For new technology diesel engines, pulmonary inflammatory changes were reported in rats after 13 and 130 weeks of exposure at 3.6 and 4.2 ppm NO2 (12–13
g DEP/m3, ~ 3
g EC/m3). The effect was absent at 0.9–1.0 ppm NO2 (4–5
g DEP/m3, ~ 1
g EC/m3). No indication of tumour development was detected. Epidemiological studies associate occupational exposure to exhaust from older technology diesel engines with increased lung cancer risk. Based on a log-linear meta-regression model, 45 years of occupational exposure to diesel exhaust at 1, 10 and 25
g EC/m3 was estimated to result in 17, 200 and 689 extra lung cancer deaths per 10 000 individuals, respectively, by the age of 80 years. Although data allowing a direct comparison of the carcinogenic potential of exhaust from new and older technology diesel engines are not available, the significant reduction of the DEP mass concentration in the new technology diesel engine exhaust is expected to reduce the lung cancer risk (per kWh). In addition to the critical effects, human and animal inhalation studies associate exposure to older technology diesel engine exhaust with sensory irritation, increased airway resistance, cardiovascular effects, genotoxicity and adjuvant allergenic effects. There are also animal studies indicating neuroinflammatory effects, developmental effects and effects on the male reproductive function. When evaluating the health risk of diesel exhausts it is important to take into account that the transition from “old” to “new” technology diesel engines is expected to take a long time. Keywords: cancer, cardiovascular, diesel engine, diesel exhaust, elemental carbon, inflammation, nitrogen dioxide, occupational exposure limit, particles, pulmonary, review, risk assessment, toxicity."

"he purpose of occupational exposure limits values (OELs) is to regulate exposure to chemicals and minimize the risk of health effects at work. National authorities are responsible for the setting and updating of national OELs. In addition, the EU sets indicative occupational exposure limit values (IOELVs), which have to be considered by the Member States. Under the new European legislation on chemicals (REACH), manufacturers and importers are obliged to establish derived no-effect levels (DNELs) for chemicals that are manufactured or imported in quantities >10 tonnes per year. Chemical safety data sheets must report both OELs and the DNEL values, if such have been set. This may cause confusion at workplaces, especially if the values differ from each other. In this study, we explored how EU IOELVs and Finnish national OELs [Haitallisiksi tunnetut pitoisuudet (HTP) values] correlate with worker inhalation DNELs for substances registered under REACH. The long-term DNEL value for workers (inhalation) was identical to the corresponding IOELV for the majority of the substances (64/87 cases). Comparison of DNELs with HTP values revealed that the values were identical or close to each other in 159 cases (49%), whereas the DNEL was considerably higher in 69 cases, and considerably lower in 87 cases. Examples of cases with high differences between Finnish national OELs and DNELs are given. However, as the DNELs were not systematically lower than the OELs, the default assessment factors suggested by REACH technical guidance had obviously not been used in many of the REACH registrations."

"Diesel engines are widely used in transport and power supply, making occupational exposure to diesel exhaust common. Both human and animal studies associate exposure to diesel exhaust with inflammatory lung effects, cardiovascular effects, and an increased risk of lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has evaluated diesel exhaust as carcinogenic to humans. Yet national or regional limit values for controlling occupational exposure to diesel exhaust are rare. In recent decades, stricter emission regulations have led to diesel technologies evolving significantly, resulting in changes in exhaust emissions and composition. These changes are also expected to influence the health effects of diesel exhaust. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the health effects of diesel exhaust and the influence of new diesel technologies on the health risk. It discusses the relevant exposure indicators and perspectives for setting occupational exposure limit values for diesel exhaust, and outlines directions for future research. The review is based on a collaborative evaluation report by the Nordic Expert Group for Criteria Documentation of Health Risks from Chemicals and the Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety."

"The EU human biomonitoring initiative, HBM4EU, aims to co-ordinate and advance human biomonitoring (HBM) across Europe. Within its remit, the project is gathering new, policy relevant, EU-wide data on occupational exposure to relevant priority chemicals and developing new approaches for occupational biomonitoring. In this manuscript, the hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] study design is presented as the first example of this HBM4EU approach. This study involves eight European countries and plans to recruit 400 workers performing Cr(VI) surface treatment e.g. electroplating or stainless steel welding activities. The aim is to collect new data on current occupational exposure to Cr(VI) in Europe and to test new methods for Cr biomonitoring, specifically the analysis of Cr(VI) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and Cr in red blood cells (RBC) in addition to traditional urinary total Cr analyses. Furthermore, exposure data will be complemented with early biological effects data, including genetic and epigenetic effects. Personal air samples and wipe samples are collected in parallel to help informing the biomonitoring results. We present standard operational procedures (SOPs) to support the harmonized methodologies for the collection of occupational hygiene and HBM samples in different countries."