Qualitative risk assessment during polymer mortar test specimens preparation - Methods comparison

Abstract

Polymer binder modification with inorganic nanomaterials (NM) could be apotential and efficient solution to control matrix flammability of polymer concrete (PC)materials without sacrificing other important properties. Occupational exposures can occur allalong the life cycle of a NM and "nanoproducts" from research through scale-up, productdevelopment, manufacturing, and end of life. The main objective of the present study is toanalyse and compare different qualitative risk assessment methods during the production ofpolymer mortars (PM) with NM. The laboratory scale production process was divided in 3main phases (pre-production, production and post-production), which allow testing theassessment methods in different situations. The risk assessment involved in the manufacturingprocess of PM was made by using the qualitative analyses based on: French Agency for Food,Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety method (ANSES); Control BandingNanotool (CB Nanotool); Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne method (EPFL);Guidance working safely with nanomaterials and nanoproducts (GWSNN); Istituto Superioreper la Prevenzione e la Sicurezza del Lavoro, Italy method (ISPESL); Precautionary Matrix forSynthetic Nanomaterials (PMSN); and Stoffenmanager Nano. It was verified that the differentmethods applied also produce different final results. In phases 1 and 3 the risk assessmenttends to be classified as medium-high risk, while for phase 2 the more common result ismedium level. It is necessary to improve the use of qualitative methods by defining narrowcriteria for the methods selection for each assessed situation, bearing in mind that theuncertainties are also a relevant factor when dealing with the risk related to nanotechnologiesfield.