Abstract:
Man-made vitreous fibers (MMVF) are a class of inorganic fibrous materials that include glass and mineral wools, continuous glass filaments, and refractory ceramic fibers valued for their insulative properties in high temperature applications. Potential health effects from occupational exposure to MMVF have been investigated since the 1970s, with focus on incidence of respiratory tract cancer among MMVF-exposed production workers. The general population may experience exposure to MMVF in residential and/or commercial buildings due to deterioration, construction, or other disruption of materials containing these fibers. Numerous studies have characterized potential exposures that may occur during material disruption or installation; however, fewer have aimed to measure background MMVF concentrations in residential and commercial spaces (i.e., non-production settings) to which the general population may be exposed. In this study, we reviewed and synthesized peer-reviewed studies that evaluated respirable MMVF exposure levels in non-production, indoor environments. Among studies that analyzed airborne respirable MMVF concentrations, 110-fold and 1.5-fold differences in estimated concentrations were observed for those studies utilizing phase contrast optical microscopy (PCOM) versus transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between respirable air concentrations of MMVF and total surface concentrations of MMVF in seldom-cleaned areas. Ultimately, available evidence suggests that both ambient air and surface concentrations of MMVF in indoor environments are consistently lower than exposure limits developed to prevent negative health outcomes among sensitive populations.
摘要:
人造玻璃质纤维(MMVF)是一类无机纤维材料,包括玻璃和矿物羊毛,连续玻璃丝,和耐火陶瓷纤维因其在高温应用中的绝缘性能而受到重视。自1970年代以来,已经研究了职业暴露于MMVF的潜在健康影响,重点关注接触MMVF的生产工人的呼吸道癌症发病率。由于恶化,一般人群可能会在住宅和/或商业建筑中暴露于MMVF,建筑,或其他包含这些纤维的材料的破坏。许多研究都描述了在材料破坏或安装过程中可能发生的潜在暴露;然而,较少的人旨在测量住宅和商业空间中的背景MMVF浓度(即,非生产环境),一般人群可能会接触到。在这项研究中,我们回顾并综合了同行评审的研究,这些研究评估了非生产中的可吸入MMVF暴露水平,室内环境。在分析空气中可吸入MMVF浓度的研究中,使用相衬光学显微镜(PCOM)与透射电子显微镜(TEM)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)进行的那些研究,观察到估计浓度的110倍和1.5倍差异。分别。在很少清洁的区域中,MMVF的可吸入空气浓度与MMVF的总表面浓度之间呈正相关。最终,现有证据表明,在敏感人群中,环境空气和室内环境中MMVF的表面浓度始终低于为防止负面健康结果而制定的暴露限值.