Occupational Exposure to Cobalt and Tungsten in the Swedish Hard Metal Industry: Air Concentrations of Particle Mass, Number, and Surface Area.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to cobalt in the hard metal industry entails severe adverse health effects, including lung cancer and hard metal fibrosis. The main aim of this study was to determine exposure air concentration levels of cobalt and tungsten for risk assessment and dose-response analysis in our medical investigations in a Swedish hard metal plant. We also present mass-based, particle surface area, and particle number air concentrations from stationary sampling and investigate the possibility of using these data as proxies for exposure measures in our study. Personal exposure full-shift measurements were performed for inhalable and total dust, cobalt, and tungsten, including personal real-time continuous monitoring of dust. Stationary measurements of inhalable and total dust, PM2.5, and PM10 was als

SUBMITTER: Klasson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4915521 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature