Workplace exposure related harm

Industrial workers make up the segment of the population that is most vulnerable to chemical injury. To protect them from occupation-related harm, the American Conference of Governmental and Indnstrial Hygienists publishes annually revised threshold limit values (TLVs), guidelines for permissible chemical exposure at the workplace. http //www.acgih.org/Resources/press/HAL.htm... 

I first turned my mind to the issue of nanotechnology midway through 2005 when preparing the ACTU s submission to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into Workplace Exposure to Tbxic Dust. It came as a bit of a surprise that the last in a long list of issues to be dealt with under the Inquiry s terms of reference was to address the jxrtential for emerging technologies, including nanoparticles, to result in workplace-related harm (Senate Community Affairs Committee, 2005). 

Since lead and several of the other metals routinely encountered in the workplace are widely acknowledged to be potentially harmful, there is universal acceptance of the need to employ control measures to limit the exposure of individuals involved in the production and use of lead and zinc. However, there is less agreement over the degree of protection which is required, and so, exposure standards vary from country to country. In lead and zinc plants, the greatest concern is invariably related to lead and an extensive body of legislation has been developed to ensure adequate protection of workers. Generally speaking, the techniques employed to limit lead exposure are effective also for other metals and so the discussion in this section of the paper focuses on lead. 

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