A direct-reading dosimeter badge for monitoring personal exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

项目摘要 通过这个SBIR项目，我们的目标是开发新的方法和技术， 监测个人接触多环芳烃（PAH）的情况。因为多环芳烃 DNA损伤可能引发癌症，这些化合物对人类健康构成相当大的风险。 在工作场所长期接触多环芳烃与癌症风险增加有关， 消防员、道路建筑工人、屋顶工人和车辆操作员。查明和评估 工人暴露于空气中的多环芳烃，工业卫生学家使用吸附管。但这 方法具有显著的缺点，包括高成本，繁琐的采样和处理， 准确性低，由于需要外部实验室进行分析，报告延迟。因此 存在对监测暴露于PAH的新方法的未满足的需求。 该项目旨在开发简单、低成本、可佩戴的剂量计采样徽章， 提供对空气中多环芳烃暴露的实时和准确监测。这项工作建立在 令人兴奋的初步结果表明，液晶（LC）薄膜表现出突变， 当暴露于多环芳烃时，光学转变，但当暴露于其他气态化学品时则不然。在 第一阶段，我们将使用基于假设的测试来更好地理解材料， 设计考虑，以指导开发用于测量暴露的基于LC的剂量计 多环芳烃我们的目标是（i）了解影响LC薄膜响应的材料特性 以优化灵敏度为目标，以及（ii）确定剂量计配置， 能够定量测量空气中多环芳烃的浓度。这项工作的成果 将提供制造剂量计采样徽章的设计原则， 工作场所中暴露于多环芳烃的特征。更广泛地说， 通过这些努力开发的新技术将能够对工人接触多环芳烃进行新的评估， 这一新知识可能会导致采取行动，减少职业性癌症和其他不良健康 创造更安全的工作场所。因此，SBIR项目的目标与 NIOSH 2019-2023年校外研究的优先目标。

Project Summary Through this SBIR project, we aim to develop new methods and technologies for monitoring personal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Because PAHs cause DNA damage that may initiate cancer, these compounds pose considerable risk to human health. Chronic exposure to PAHs in the workplace has been associated with increased risk of cancer for firefighters, road construction workers, roofers and vehicle operators. To identify and assess worker exposure to airborne PAHs, industrial hygienists utilize sorbent tubes. However, this method has significant disadvantages including high-cost, burdensome sampling and handling, low accuracy and delayed reporting due to required analysis by an external laboratory. Thus, there exist an unmet need for new methods for monitoring exposure to PAHs. This project aims to develop simple, low-cost, wearable dosimeters sampling badges that provide real-time and accurate monitoring of exposure to airborne PAHs. This work builds on exciting preliminary results that demonstrate that films of liquid crystals (LC) exhibit an abrupt optical transition when exposed to PAHs, but not when exposed to other gaseous chemicals. In Phase I, we will use hypothesis-based testing to develop a better understanding of materials and design considerations to guide the development of LC-based dosimeters for measuring exposure to PAHs. We aim to (i) understand the material properties that influence the response of LC films to PAHs with the goal of optimizing sensitivity, and (ii) identify dosimeter configurations that enable quantitative measurements of the concentration of PAHs in air. The outcomes of this work will provide design principles for fabricating dosimeter sampling badges for quantitative characterization of exposure to PAHs in the workplace. More broadly, the tools and methods developed through these efforts will enable new assessments on worker exposures to PAHs, and this new knowledge may lead to actions that reduce occupational cancer and other adverse health outcomes, and create safer workplaces. Thus, the goals of this SBIR project are well alight with the NIOSH Priority Goals for Extramural Research for 2019-2023.