International landscape of limits and recommendations for occupational exposure to engineered nanomaterials

• Published in: Toxicology letters 2020-04, Vol.322, p.111-119
• Main Authors: Rodríguez-Ibarra, Carolina, Déciga-Alcaraz, Alejandro, Ispanixtlahuatl-Meráz, Octavio, Medina-Reyes, Estefany I., Delgado-Buenrostro, Norma L., Chirino, Yolanda I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Engineered nanomaterials; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Nanostructures - adverse effects; Nanotoxicology; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - legislation & jurisprudence; Occupational Exposure - prevention & control; Occupational Exposure - standards; Occupational exposure limits; Occupational Health - legislation & jurisprudence; Occupational Health - standards; Policy Making; Regulatory agencies; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Threshold Limit Values
• ISSN: 0378-4274; 1879-3169
• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2020.01.016

•Information required for nanomaterials registration is mainly based on tonnage.•Sub-nanometric nanomaterials and nanofibers could have different criteria for regulation.•For some nanomaterials, limits of exposure are based on the bulk material as a reference.•Metal oxides and carbon-based are the most regulated nanomaterials.•Measuring airborne nanomaterials concentrations in occupational settings is urgent. The increasing concern of possible adverse effects on human health derived from occupational engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) exposure is an issue addressed by entities related to provide guidelines and/or protocols for ENMs regulation. Here we analysed 17 entities from America, Europe and Asia, and some of these entities provide limits of exposure extrapolated from the non-nanosized counterparts of ENMs. The international landscape shows that recommendations are mostly made for metal oxide based ENMs and tonnage is one of the main criteria for ENMs registration, however, sub-nanometric ENMs are emerging and perhaps a novel category of ENMs will appear soon. We identify that besides the lack of epidemiological evidence of ENMs toxicity in humans and difficulties in analysing the toxicological data derived from experimental models, the lack of information on airborne concentrations of ENMs in occupational settings is an important limitation to improve the experimental designs. The development of regulations related to ENMs exposure would lead to provide safer work places for ENMs production without delaying the nanotechnology progress but will also help to protect the environment by taking opportune and correct measures for nanowaste, considering that this could be a great environmental problem in the coming future.