title: Qualitative and Semiquantitative Assessment of Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials within the French EpiNano Program: Inter- and Intramethod Reliability Study.
abstract: The relatively recent development of industries working with nanomaterials has created challenges for exposure assessment. In this article, we propose a relatively simple approach to assessing nanomaterial exposures for the purposes of epidemiological studies of workers in these industries. This method consists of an onsite industrial hygiene visit of facilities carried out individually and a description of workstations where nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) are present using a standardized tool, the Onsite technical logbook. To assess its reliability, we implemented this approach for assessing exposure to NOAA in workplaces at seven workstations which synthesize and functionalize carbon nanotubes. The prediction of exposure to NOAA using this method exhibited substantial agreement with that of the reference method, the latter being based on an onsite group visit, an expert's report and exposure measurements (Cohen kappa = 0.70, sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.92). Intramethod comparison of results for exposure prediction showed moderate agreement between the three evaluators (two program team evaluators and one external evaluator) (weighted Fleiss kappa = 0.60, P = 0.003). Interevaluator reliability of the semiquantitative exposure characterization results was excellent between the two evaluators from the program team (Spearman rho = 0.93, P = 0.03) and fair when these two evaluators' results were compared with the external evaluator's results. The project was undertaken within the framework of the French epidemiological surveillance program EpiNano. This study allowed a first reliability assessment of the EpiNano method. However, to further validate this method a comparison with robust quantitative exposure measurement data is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Direction Santé Travail, Santé publique France, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guseva Canu
authors.affiliation: Direction Santé Travail, Santé publique France, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jezewski-Serra
authors.affiliation: Direction Santé Travail, Santé publique France, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Laurène
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Delabre
authors.affiliation: Direction Santé Travail, Santé publique France, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France.|Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, Université de Bordeaux-Segalen, F-33076 Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ducamp
authors.affiliation: Direction Santé Travail, Santé publique France, F-94415 Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwatsubo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, Université de Bordeaux-Segalen, F-33076 Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Audignon-Durand
authors.affiliation: Plate-forme NanoSécurité, CEA-Grenoble, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ducros
authors.affiliation: Département Épidémiologie en Entreprise, Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité pour la prévention des accidents de travail et des maladies professionnelles (INRS), F-54519 Vandoeuvre, France.
authors.forename: Anca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radauceanu
authors.affiliation: Plate-forme NanoSécurité, CEA-Grenoble, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Métrologie des Aérosols, INRS, F-54519 Vandoeuvre, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Witschger
authors.affiliation: Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche et d'Ingénierie des Matériaux, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flahaut
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D049329:Nanostructures; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D016272:Occupational Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000592:standards
keywords: epidemiology; exposure registry; inhalation; nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates
                      (NOAA); occupational exposure