• Project number: F 2554
• Status: Ongoing Project
• Planned end: 2027-06-30

Description:

In order to protect employees handling industrial chemicals or biocides, the REACH and Biocides Regulations require an assessment of their exposure through inhalation and skin contact. For this purpose, the exposure level is often estimated by models and a risk arising from the various exposure pathways is derived. The uptake by ingestion (oral exposure) represents a third exposure pathway besides inhalation and skin contact. So far, this has been addressed by occupational hygiene minimum standards for exposure reduction. For a comprehensive protection of employees, it should be considered if, when and to what extent oral exposure may be relevant in relation to the other exposure pathways in the workplace. This requires an improved understanding, as well as the identification of relevant parameters and the scientific analysis of the mechanisms for oral exposure in the workplace.
In this project, the mechanisms contributing to occupational oral exposure will be analysed on the basis of a processed database and transferred into a model-based description. The mechanisms will be summarized in an overall model, which allows the comparison of the mechanisms with each other and thus increases the understanding of the occurrence of oral exposure at the workplace. A model evaluation is anticipated by comparing it with measurement results, which will be obtained in another project investigating measurement strategies in order to quantify occupational oral exposure.