Potential occupational exposure to manufactured nanoparticles in Italy

The development and spread of nanotechnologies in manufacturing work worldwide calls for close attention to the potential health risks for workers who might be exposed to nanometer-scale materials. Our limited knowledge of exposure assessment means that further research in this field is urgently needed. This paper focuses on the potential occurrence of nanoparticles in some economic sectors and proposes an estimate of the number of workers involved. This is a basic step in the general process of risk analysis in order to establish the size and impact of the hazard.As the first phase in a project to define ways of assessing the risk of occupational exposure to nanomaterials in Italy we developed a method for identifying the industrial sectors involved and the numbers of workers potentially exposed to manufactured nanoparticles. Substantial numbers are potentially involved. The model proposed could also be tested for application on unintentionally produced nanoparticles, and – in general – on populations exposed to other specific risks.