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Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities

INTRODUCTION: Additive manufacturing is a novel state-of-the art technology with significant economic and practical advantages, including the ability to produce complex structures on demand while reducing the need of stocking materials and products. Additive manufacturing is a technology that is her...

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Autores principales: Assenhöj, Maria, Almstrand, Ann-Charlotte, Kokelj, Spela, Ljunggren, Stefan A., Olin, Anna-Carin, Karlsson, Helen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10694287/
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1292420
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author Assenhöj, Maria
Almstrand, Ann-Charlotte
Kokelj, Spela
Ljunggren, Stefan A.
Olin, Anna-Carin
Karlsson, Helen
author_facet Assenhöj, Maria
Almstrand, Ann-Charlotte
Kokelj, Spela
Ljunggren, Stefan A.
Olin, Anna-Carin
Karlsson, Helen
author_sort Assenhöj, Maria
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Additive manufacturing is a novel state-of-the art technology with significant economic and practical advantages, including the ability to produce complex structures on demand while reducing the need of stocking materials and products. Additive manufacturing is a technology that is here to stay; however, new technologies bring new challenges, not only technical but also from an occupational health and safety perspective. Herein, leading Swedish companies using metal additive manufacturing were studied with the aim of investigating occupational exposure and the utility of chosen exposure- and clinical markers as predictors of potential exposure-related health risks. METHODS: Exposure levels were investigated by analysis of airborne dust and metals, alongside particle counting instruments measuring airborne particles in the range of 10 nm−10 μm to identify dusty work tasks. Health examinations were performed on a total of 48 additive manufacturing workers and 39 controls. All participants completed a questionnaire, underwent spirometry, and blood and urine sampling. A subset underwent further lung function tests. RESULTS: Exposure to inhalable dust and metals were low, but particle counting instruments identified specific work tasks with high particle emissions. Examined health parameters were well within reference values on a group level. However, statistical analysis implied an impact on workers kidney function and possible airway inflammation. CONCLUSION: The methodology was successful for investigating exposure-related health risks in additive manufacturing. However, most participants have been working <5 years. Therefore, long-term studies are needed before we can conclusively accept or reject the observed effects on health.
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spelling pubmed-106942872023-12-05 Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities Assenhöj, Maria Almstrand, Ann-Charlotte Kokelj, Spela Ljunggren, Stefan A. Olin, Anna-Carin Karlsson, Helen Front Public Health Public Health INTRODUCTION: Additive manufacturing is a novel state-of-the art technology with significant economic and practical advantages, including the ability to produce complex structures on demand while reducing the need of stocking materials and products. Additive manufacturing is a technology that is here to stay; however, new technologies bring new challenges, not only technical but also from an occupational health and safety perspective. Herein, leading Swedish companies using metal additive manufacturing were studied with the aim of investigating occupational exposure and the utility of chosen exposure- and clinical markers as predictors of potential exposure-related health risks. METHODS: Exposure levels were investigated by analysis of airborne dust and metals, alongside particle counting instruments measuring airborne particles in the range of 10 nm−10 μm to identify dusty work tasks. Health examinations were performed on a total of 48 additive manufacturing workers and 39 controls. All participants completed a questionnaire, underwent spirometry, and blood and urine sampling. A subset underwent further lung function tests. RESULTS: Exposure to inhalable dust and metals were low, but particle counting instruments identified specific work tasks with high particle emissions. Examined health parameters were well within reference values on a group level. However, statistical analysis implied an impact on workers kidney function and possible airway inflammation. CONCLUSION: The methodology was successful for investigating exposure-related health risks in additive manufacturing. However, most participants have been working <5 years. Therefore, long-term studies are needed before we can conclusively accept or reject the observed effects on health. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10694287/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1292420 Text en Copyright © 2023 Assenhöj, Almstrand, Kokelj, Ljunggren, Olin and Karlsson. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Assenhöj, Maria
Almstrand, Ann-Charlotte
Kokelj, Spela
Ljunggren, Stefan A.
Olin, Anna-Carin
Karlsson, Helen
Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title_full Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title_fullStr Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title_full_unstemmed Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title_short Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
title_sort occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10694287/
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1292420
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