Development of a Real-Time, Wearable Sensor to Limit Exposure to Formaldehyde

描述(申请人提供)：国际癌症研究机构将甲醛(FA)归类为一种致癌物，其依据是吸入导致大鼠的鳞状细胞癌以及人类的白血病和鼻咽癌。甲醛也可能是人类鼻窦癌的原因之一。婴儿特别容易受到FA的影响，这很可能是由于他们的器官和免疫系统不成熟，以及他们在FA浓度较高的室内度过的时间。最近有报道称，在前五年中，暴露在10ppm的住房中与下呼吸道(32%)和喘息下呼吸道(41%)感染的风险增加相关。 生命中的岁月。最近的研究表明，暴露于FA会导致鼻上皮中microRNA的变化，从而影响细胞凋亡信号转导。这些更严重的健康影响已经清楚地记录在典型的家庭浓度和高于NIOSH建议和法定OSHA限值的浓度(见下文)。然而，即使接近OSHA标准，一些人也会出现眼睛、鼻子或喉咙灼热、咳嗽甚至恶心的症状。甲醛无处不在，在室内和室外，每个人都会受到一定程度的吸入。按法律规定，OSHA规定的8小时加权平均值的暴露限值为0.75ppm。15分钟内的短期接触限值为2ppm。NIOSH建议的八小时暴露限值为0.016ppm，短期建议低于0.1ppm。室外浓度通常在0.8ppm至16ppm之间，但在交通繁忙的情况下，浓度高达5倍。据报道，全球室内浓度范围为3ppm至500ppm，美国非制造业地区(如学校)的浓度范围为3ppm至65ppm。本文件中建议的设备的可用性允许个人通过在发生时限制其暴露来保护自己的健康，而不是在情况为时已晚的时候简单地摆脱暴露。然而，这些新设备还有第二个好处。美国国立卫生研究院对暴露于有毒化学物质与测量的健康影响之间的相关性有既定的兴趣。我们建议的传感器记录累积数据，并允许立即测量暴露，以便健康研究人员可以将暴露数据与健康影响联系起来。与当前的时间平均设备相比，我们提出的传感器的创新优势是实时记录。研究人员将有数据来确定所测量的健康影响是长期暴露超过限制还是过度短期暴露的结果，这样就可以更好地关联和理解生物反应，从而在工作场所和家庭中产生更安全的暴露限制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified formaldehyde (FA) as a carcinogen based on inhalation caused squamous cell carcinoma in rats and leukemia and nasopharyngeal cancer in humans. Formaldehyde may also be a cause of sinonasal cancer in humans. Infants are particularly susceptible to effects from FA, most likely as a result of the immaturity of their organs and immune system and the time that they spend indoors where FA concentrations are elevated. It was recently reported that exposure while living in housing with levels of 10ppm was correlated with increased risks of lower respiratory tract (32%) and wheezy lower respiratory tract (41%) infections in the first five years of life. Recent studies have shown that exposure to FA results in microRNA changes in the nasal epithelium with subsequent effects on apoptosis signaling. These more serious health effects have been clearly documented at concentrations that are typical in the home and above the NIOSH recommendation and the legal OSHA limit (see below). However, even near the OSHA standard, some people experience burning in the eyes, nose or throat, coughing and even nausea. Formaldehyde is ubiquitous and everyone is exposed by inhalation at some level, both indoors and outdoors. The OSHA, legally enforced, exposure limit for an eight-hour weighted average is 0.75ppm. The short-term exposure limit is 2ppm for a fifteen-minute period. The NIOSH recommended eight-hour exposure limit is 0.016ppm with a short-term recommendation of less than 0.1ppm exposure. Outdoor concentrations are usually in a range from 0.8ppm to 16ppm, but up to 5x higher in heavy traffic. A global indoor concentration range of 3 to 500ppm has been reported with U.S. levels in nonmanufacturing areas such as schools in a range from 3 to 65ppm. The availability of the devices proposed in this document allow for individuals to protect their health by limiting their exposure as it occurs and not simply being tod of exposure at a time when it is too late to rectify the situation. However, there is a second benefit to these new devices. NIH has an established interest in the correlation of exposure to toxic chemicals with measured health effects. Our proposed sensors record cumulative data and allow immediate measurements of exposure so that health researchers can connect the exposure data to health effects. The innovative advantage of our proposed sensors over current time-averaging devices is the real-time record. Researchers will have the data to determine whether measured health effects were the result of long-term exposure exceeding limits or excessive short-term exposure, so that the biological response can be better correlated and understood, leading to safer exposure limits both in the workplace and in homes.