The validity of personal exposure measurements and risk assessment at the University

Abstract

   In many cases, use of chemical substances is intermittent in a short time at laboratory of university. For this reason, the possibility has been pointed out that health disturbance risk in laboratories may be undetectable by the working environment measurement which is prescribed by Japanese Industrial Safety and Health Law. We thought that exposure assessment based on the official method by working environment measurement could be carried out more properly by the combined application of personal exposure measurement and risk assessment of chemical substances.
   To verify this probability, personal exposure measurement and qualitative risk assessment of chemical substances were performed in parallel with the official method by working environment measurement in several laboratories of Japanese universities.
   As a result, personal exposure measurement and qualitative chemical risk assessment detected the health disturbance risk undetectable in official method by working environment measurement, and the possibility was suggested that these methods may compensate the work environment management based on the official method by working environment measurement.