Dermal Exposure to Electroplating Fluids and Metalworking Fluids in the UK

Abstract

This paper describes workplace dermal exposure measurements that were carried out by the Health and Safety Laboratory as part of the EU RISKOFDERM project. Exposure to metal-working fluids (MWFs) was measured at three sites on 25 subjects who were 'mechanically treating solid objects' as they loaded and supervised milling and boring machines and lathes. Thirty-one samples were obtained, of which 18 were exposures to neat mineral oils and 13 to water-oil mixes. All subjects wore Tyvek® whole-body oversuits that were analysed in their entirety to extract the MWF. The geometric mean surface loading rate of the 31 oversuits was 62 μg/cm2/h (GSD = 4.6) and of the seven pairs of sampling gloves (worn inside protective gloves) was 2900 μg/cm 2/h (GSD = 1.67). Exposure to electroplating fluids was measured at three sites on 27 subjects who were dipping objects into tanks of either chromic acid, nickel sulphate, copper sulphate, copper cyanide or zinc hydroxide. All subjects wore Tyvek® wholebody oversuits that were surface scanned over their areas using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to detect all the metal atoms simultaneously. Contamination was assessed using the method of Dirichlet tessellation. The geometric mean surface loading rate of the 26 oversuits was 37 μg/cm2/h (GSD = 3.5) and of the 25 pairs of sampling gloves (worn inside protective gloves) was 190 μg/cm 2/h (GSD = 2.75). Almost all of the electroplating samples were below the limit of quantification. More than one species of metal atoms was found on some of the samples afterwards, indicating cross-contamination from other baths during the sampling period.