261 Application of a new custom-made activated charcoal cloth patch in different real work conditions

Assessing dermal exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is becoming increasingly important in industrial settings. This study evaluated the applicability of a novel custom-made activated charcoal cloth (ACC) patch in various workplaces. Forty-nine workers carrying out different tasks were included in this assessment: desk working (“no VOC exposure”), sandblasting (“no VOC exposure”), cherry-picker driving (“dermal vapour exposure”), repairing (“low liquid exposure), degreasing (“medium liquid exposure”), spray painting (“high liquid exposure”), and immersing (“immersion exposure”). Each participant wore three ACC patches (thumb, index finger and neck). Additionally, two glove types were tested during the immersion task: all-round nitrile gloves and highly chemical-resistant gloves. One extra patch was placed on the outside of the glove to assess the ingress of VOCs. In general, the ACC patches captured various levels of VOCs ranging from levels below LOQ (“no VOC exposure”) to 0.4 mg/cm^2 (“dermal vapour exposure”) and 6.5 mg/cm^2 (“immersion exposure”). Furthermore, the ACC patches allowed us to differentiate the level of direct hand contact by comparing the amount of VOCs found on the fingers versus the neck. Workers carrying out direct liquid handling tasks, such as spray painting, showed over 75% hand versus neck exposure than workers only exposed via vapour (1-30%). Finally, the percentage of ingress could be calculated during the immersion task by comparing the outer patch with the inner patches. When wearing nitrile gloves, 5% of ingress was observed versus nearly 0% when wearing chemical-resistant gloves. These findings demonstrate the applicability of the custom-made ACC patches to measure dermal VOC exposure in different work conditions.