2. ENVIRONMENTAL ChEMISTRy & TEChNOLOGy 2.1. Lectures

Chem. Listy, 102, s265–s1311 (2008) Environmental Chemistry & Technology
P03 hEALTh RISK ASSESSMENT by INDOOR AIR
QuALITy MONITORING
EKATERInA AnDREEVA, IVAn MAŠEK and MILADA
VáVROVá
Brno University of Technology, ICTEP, Czech Republic, Purkyňova
118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic,
xcandreeva@fch.vutbr.cz
Introduction
The risk is an inseparable part of working activity. That
is why a general duty of employer is to ensure health and
safety at work for all employees. They are protected by the
main framework Directive 98/391/EEC, which basic principle
is risk prevention, which requires risk assessment by the
responsible employer.
Dangerous substances can be found in many workplaces.
A recent European survey shows that 16 % of workers
reported handling hazardous products and 22 % being
exposed to toxic vapours1 . As far as work accidents concern
according to OSHA facts1 :
• Every 3 and a half minutes somebody in the European
Union dies from work-related causes
• Every year 142,400 people in the EU die from occupational
diseases and 8,900 from work-related accidents
• Up to third of these 150,000 fatalities each year can be
attributed to hazardous substances at work in the EU
(including 21,000 to asbestos)
Exposure to dangerous substance occurs at any industry
workplace, on farms, in vehicles, especially at chemical
plants and at smaller areas, such as high school, universities,
in laboratories and also at home or in office.
Dangerous substances affect human’s health by different
ways. Some can cause cancer, affect the reproductive
function or cause mutagenic effects. Other agents may cause
brain damage, be harmful to the nervous system, respiratory
airways or skin.
Quality of workplace environment includes not only
safety conditions at work, achieved by continual risk assessment
and elimination of these risks, but also means a clean
and healthy environment. The working environment is formed
by different microclimatic conditions, such as level of noise,
lighting, quality of indoor air, surrounding temperature, level
of humidity etc. Each of these factors has a great influence on
worker’s health and productivity of his work.
Since many people spend a large part of their lives in
closed areas – in an office, at school, in transport – clean air
becomes essential for good health and this is especially true
when speaking about indoor air.
Posing the Problem
As it was mentioned above among different workplaces,
school’s environment can be found. nowadays school area
consists of not only usual class-rooms, but also covers wide
s338
range of specialized working facilities, for example chemical
laboratories.
In this article we will focus on chemical hazards in the
laboratories. People who work or study in a chemical laboratory
are exposed to many kinds of hazards, e.g. chemical
substances, mechanical hazards, biological agents, physical
factors, psychological conditions and so on.
Special feature of such work environment is that level
of chemical threats rises steeply, since the quantity and
range of chemicals are higher than in any other place of
usual life. Many agents are highly flammable and explosive,
their careless handling and storage may result in fire ignition
and explosions. Toxic gases, fumes and liquids may be
produced and cause poisoning or infection of personnel and
students. Some chemical agents have carcinogenic or mutagenic
properties.
Indoor air quality is also one of the important factors
in the working space and shouldn’t be underestimated.
The influence of air quality which we breathe can be extended
on two main problems: long-term health affection and
work-related accidents. The first problem is connected with
long-term exposure of workers and students to low concentrations
of different substances in the air (the most followed
are carbon and nitrogen oxides, radon and Volatile Organic
Compounds – VOCs). Usually it can be solved by periodical
measuring of concentration, assessing the possible risks
of this exposure and taking correcting measures, for example
improving ventilation, changing working regime, and using
proper personal protective equipment.
The second problem concerns working-related accidents.
On the one hand any laboratory worker or student can be
exposed to toxic gases and fumes, which may unexpectedly
escape from their container or come out from the by-side effect
of reaction. These substances in the air can cause diffe-
rent effects:
•
•
•
Acute poisoning or injury of the organism
Cause allergies
Irritate eyes or breathing system
Usually there are few people in laboratory at the same
time. If one of them will lose self-control under certain conditions,
such as bad vision, suffocation, pain, his behavior
becomes dangerous for others and can lead to emerging other
hazards for surrounding people.
Objects of Research
According to EC Directive 1999/13/EC (Solvent Emissions
Directive), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are functionally
defined as organic compounds having at 293.15 K
(i.e., 20 °C) a vapor pressure of 0.01 kPa or more, or having a
corresponding volatility under particular conditions of use.
In a majority solvents need to be managed carefully
due to their volatility and general flammability, in particular
during loading and unloading, storage and when using large
quantities.