How should workplace exposures to nanomaterials be measured?
NIOSH researchers and their colleagues are pursuing research to address that question, which arises from the fact that nanomaterials differ in significant ways from traditional materials for which established measurement procedures and equipment exist. One factor involves instrumentation: in general, available devices and methods are not designed to take and analyze samples at the nano-scale. Another factor involves uncertainties regarding the appropriate parameters for sampling and analysis. Procedures for measuring traditional materials are based on the particles’ mass and bulk chemistry as characteristics that most determine whether the material is likely to have adverse effects. For nanomaterials, current research suggests that mass and bulk chemistry may be less important than particle size, surface area and surface chemistry (or activity) as the most relevant parameters for measurements. NIOSH is evaluating potential methods and technologies for measuring exposures to airborne na
