Govn't to Evaluate Occupational Health Risks of Silver Nanoparticles

Source: Occupational Health and Saftey Magazine

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is looking into the potential risk to employee health posed by silver nanoparticles, or AgNPs, and also to identify gaps in the technical knowledge so lab and field studies can be done. 

The agency's request for information was published in the Dec. 19 edition of the Federal Register, and it says comments will be accepted for 60 days at www.regulations.gov by visiting Docket No. CDC-2012-0014.

AgNPs are used in products such as sensors, filters, inks, and in antimicrobial coatings. Some textiles, keyboards, wound dressings, and biomedical devices contain them.
 
Published reports on workers' AgNP exposure are limited but indicate exposure can occur through airborne release during the production of silver nanoparticles or can result from exposure during electro-refining of silver.

The agency is requesting published and unpublished reports on in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies of AgNPs, information on possible health effects in workers exposed to them, descriptions of work tasks with the potential for exposures, measurement methods and workplace exposure data, and information about control measures.