ISO/TC 146/SC 2/WG 8 - Assessment of contamination of skin and surfaces from airborne chemicals

ISO/TS 21623:2017 describes a systematic approach to assess potential occupational risks related to nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) arising from the production and use of nanomaterials and/or nano-enabled products. This approach provides guidance to identify exposure routes, exposed body parts and potential consequences of exposure with respect to skin uptake, local effects and inadvertent ingestion. ISO/TS 21623:2017 also considers occupational use of products containing NOAA by professionals, e.g. beauticians applying personal care products, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, but does not apply to deliberate or prescribed exposure to these products by consumers. ISO/TS 21623:2017 is aimed at occupational hygienists, researchers and other safety professionals to assist recognition of potential dermal exposure and its potential consequences.

ISO/TR 14294:2011 provides general considerations for the assessment of dermal exposure in workplaces. It offers guidance on dermal exposure assessment and the commonly used approaches for measuring dermal exposure. An understanding of the advantages and limitations of each approach assists in the selection of the appropriate method(s) to meet the assessment objective. ISO/TR 14294:2011, however, is not intended to provide expert guidance, such as in the case of exposure scenarios or chemical agents. ISO/TR 14294:2011 is intended to assist occupational hygiene practitioners and researchers in developing a dermal exposure assessment strategy in agreement with its intended purpose. More importantly, it promotes adaptation of a consistent approach to assessing dermal exposure, and provides a framework for the assessment and validation of method performance. ISO/TR 14294:2011 describes the requirements against which sampling methods for determining dermal exposure need to be assessed; methodologies and specifications are proposed for the following procedures (not all requirements may be applicable to all methods): a) sampling efficiency; b) recovery efficiency; c) sample stability; d) capacity; e) bias, precision, uncertainty; f) core information; g) contextual information.