title: Evaluation of Decision Rules in a Tiered Assessment of Inhalation Exposure to Nanomaterials.
abstract: Tiered or stepwise approaches to assess occupational exposure to nano-objects, and their agglomerates and aggregates have been proposed, which require decision rules (DRs) to move to a next tier, or terminate the assessment. In a desk study the performance of a number of DRs based on the evaluation of results from direct reading instruments was investigated by both statistical simulations and the application of the DRs to real workplace data sets. A statistical model that accounts for autocorrelation patterns in time-series, i.e. autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), was used as 'gold' standard. The simulations showed that none of the proposed DRs covered the entire range of simulated scenarios with respect to the ARIMA model parameters, however, a combined DR showed a slightly better agreement. Application of the DRs to real workplace datasets (n = 117) revealed sensitivity up to 0.72, whereas the lowest observed specificity was 0.95. The selection of the most appropriate DR is very much dependent on the consequences of the decision, i.e. ruling in or ruling out of scenarios for further evaluation. Since a basic assessment may also comprise of other type of measurements and information, an evaluation logic was proposed which embeds the DRs, but furthermore supports decision making in view of a tiered-approach exposure assessment.
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands; 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands; derk.brouwer@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Derk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Ruud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boessen
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Duuren-Stuurman
authors.affiliation: 3. Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), Harpur Hill, Buxton SK17 9JN, UK;
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bard
authors.affiliation: 4. Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA/DGUV), Alte Heerstrasse 111, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany;
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moehlmann
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands; 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bekker
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fransman
authors.affiliation: 1. TNO, Utrechtseweg 48, 3704 HE, Zeist, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Rinke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein Entink
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000032:analysis*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational
keywords: decision rules; direct reading instruments; evaluation logic; exposure assessment; nanoparticle; statistical simulations; tiered approach