91 Development of Methods for Exposure- and Risk Assessment of Graphene

• Published in: Annals of work exposures and health 2023-05, Vol.67 (Supplement_1), p.i95-i95
• Main Authors: Storsjö, Tobias, Sun, Jinhua, Tinnerberg, Håkan, Farbrot, Anne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2398-7308; 2398-7316
• DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxac087.233

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the Organic carbon/elemental carbon technique as a method to quantify and identify the exposure of graphene and its derivatives, the aim being to propose a standardized occupational exposure measurements method for graphene. Graphene is a 2D-material consisting primarily of elemental carbon, and has many useful properties such as flexibility, elasticity, and conductivity among others. Graphene could therefore become a material used in many occupational fields in the future, and as of today, no optimal measuring technique for occupational exposure exists. The readily available techniques are either nonspecific or nonquantitative. An OC/EC-instrument can quantitively determine the amount of and distinguish between two different types of carbon, organic and elemental carbon. OC/EC could therefore be a possible measuring method used to quantitively determine occupational exposure to graphene. Preliminary test of the method has shown that it is possible to determine the amount of graphene on a quartz filter using the technique. Early results have also shown that it is possible to pinpoint which type of graphene that has been analysed between, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and graphene. The technique needs optimization, but early results indicates that the technique could be a fast and efficient monitoring technique.