Advanced Modeling Tools for Occupational and Consumer Exposure Assessment

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 3128

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Interests: occupational exposure; indoor air quality; materials characterization; aerosol science and technology; exposure modeling; risk assessment; risk assessment tools; particulate matter; dustiness

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Interests: occupational exposure; indoor air quality; aerosol science and technology; exposure modeling; risk assessment and tools; particulate matter; dustiness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Occupational and consumer exposure to different (types of) chemical substances may lead to adverse health effects. Generally, exposure assessment can be performed by exposure measurements or, alternatively, by using exposure assessment models which can estimate exposure in different occupational and consumer scenarios. As the occupational hygiene community cannot generate sufficient exposure data for all relevant scenarios, there is a clear need for exposure models capable of filling the data gaps. There are three main exposure model categories: mathematical mass balance models, mechanistic exposure models, and statistically derived models of exposure determinants. In exposure modeling, the characterization of the emission source is recognized to be the most critical component. It is therefore of great importance to continue the scientific development of exposure modelling to improve the reliability and accuracy of existing models to estimate multiple chemical exposures levels by various sources, and support the design of risk control measures.

This Special Issue will highlight the latest advances in exposure modelling-related research. Authors are invited and welcome to submit original research papers, reviews, and short communications.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Development of new models, ranging from control banding to advanced aerosol dynamic models applicable for exposure assessment to chemical substances;
  • Improvement of existing modelling tools for occupational and consumer exposure assessment;
  • User-friendliness examination of exposure model tools;
  • Sensitivity analysis of models identifying how sensitive models/tools are against changes in input parameters;
  • Evaluation of the reliability between users applying an exposure model tool;
  • Evaluation of the predictive capability of the exposure model tools;
  • Process of determining sources and emission rates;
  • High quality exposure assessment studies on occupational and consumer microenvironments suitable for testing the performance of exposure modelling tools.

Dr. Ana Sofia Fonseca
Dr. Carla Ribalta
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Exposure assessment
  • exposure models
  • quantitative models
  • control banding tools
  • accuracy
  • reliability
  • sensitivity
  • user-friendliness
  • emission rates
  • sources

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 3237 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of One- and Two-Box Models as Particle Exposure Prediction Tools at Industrial Scale
by Carla Ribalta, Ana López-Lilao, Ana Sofia Fonseca, Alexander Christian Østerskov Jensen, Keld Alstrup Jensen, Eliseo Monfort and Mar Viana
Toxics 2021, 9(9), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9090201 - 29 Aug 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2658
Abstract
One- and two-box models have been pointed out as useful tools for modelling indoor particle exposure. However, model performance still needs further testing if they are to be implemented as trustworthy tools for exposure assessment. The objective of this work is to evaluate [...] Read more.
One- and two-box models have been pointed out as useful tools for modelling indoor particle exposure. However, model performance still needs further testing if they are to be implemented as trustworthy tools for exposure assessment. The objective of this work is to evaluate the performance, applicability and reproducibility of one- and two-box models on real-world industrial scenarios. A study on filling of seven materials in three filling lines with different levels of energy and mitigation strategies was used. Inhalable and respirable mass concentrations were calculated with one- and two-box models. The continuous drop and rotating drum methods were used for emission rate calculation, and ranges from a one-at-a-time methodology were applied for local exhaust ventilation efficiency and inter-zonal air flows. When using both dustiness methods, large differences were observed for modelled inhalable concentrations but not for respirable, which showed the importance to study the linkage between dustiness and processes. Higher model accuracy (ratio modelled vs. measured concentrations 0.5–5) was obtained for the two- (87%) than the one-box model (53%). Large effects on modelled concentrations were seen when local exhausts ventilation and inter-zonal variations where parametrized in the models. However, a certain degree of variation (10–20%) seems acceptable, as similar conclusions are reached. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop