An Integrated Approach to Assess Exposure and Health-Risk from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a Fastener Manufacturing Industry

Hsin-I Hsu, Ming-Yeng Lin, Yu-Cheng Chen, Wang-Yi Chen, Chungsik Yoon, Mei-Ru Chen and Perng-Jy Tsai
Additional contact information
Hsin-I Hsu: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, 138, Sheng-Li Rd., Tainan 70428, Taiwan
Ming-Yeng Lin: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, 138, Sheng-Li Rd., Tainan 70428, Taiwan
Yu-Cheng Chen: Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, 35 Keyan Road, Zhunan Town, Miaoli County 350, Taiwan
Wang-Yi Chen: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, 138, Sheng-Li Rd., Tainan 70428, Taiwan
Chungsik Yoon: Department of Environmental Health, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Korea
Mei-Ru Chen: Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Wenhwa 1st St., Rende Dist., Tainan City 71703, Taiwan
Perng-Jy Tsai: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, 138, Sheng-Li Rd., Tainan 70428, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: An integrated approach was developed to assess exposure and health-risk from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in oil mists in a fastener manufacturing industry. One previously developed model and one new model were adopted for predicting oil mist exposure concentrations emitted from metal work fluid (MWF) and PAHs contained in MWF by using the fastener production rate ( Pr ) and cumulative fastener production rate ( CPr ) as predictors, respectively. By applying the annual Pr and CPr records to the above two models, long-term workplace PAH exposure concentrations were predicted. In addition, true exposure data was also collected from the field. The predicted and measured concentrations respectively served as the prior and likelihood distributions in the Bayesian decision analysis (BDA), and the resultant posterior distributions were used to determine the long-term exposure and health-risks posed on workers. Results show that long term exposures to PAHs would result in a 3.1%, 96.7%, and 73.4% chance of exceeding the PEL-TWA (0.2 mg/m 3 ), action level (0.1 mg/m 3 ), and acceptable health risk (10 ?3 ), respectively. In conclusion, preventive measures should be taken immediately to reduce workers’ PAH exposures.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; oil mist; exposure assessment; health-risk assessment; metal work fluid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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