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(PAHs)。因为多环芳烃会导致 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。 在工作场所长期暴露于多环芳烃会增加患癌症的风险 消防员、道路施工工人、屋顶工人和车辆操作员。识别和评估 工人暴露在空气中的多环芳烃，工业卫生员使用吸附试管。不过，这个 该方法具有成本高、采样和处理繁重等显著缺点， 由于需要外部实验室进行分析，准确性较低，报告延迟。因此，在那里 对监测多环芳烃暴露的新方法的需求尚未得到满足。 该项目旨在开发简单，低成本，可穿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。这项工作是建立在 令人振奋的初步结果表明，液晶(LC)薄膜表现出突然的 当暴露在多环芳烃中时，光学转换，但当暴露在其他气态化学品中时，则不发生。在……里面 第一阶段，我们将使用基于假设的测试来更好地理解材料和 指导基于LC的曝光量测量剂量计发展的设计考虑 到多环芳烃。我们的目标是(I)了解影响液晶膜响应的材料性质 以优化灵敏度为目标的多环芳烃，以及(Ii)确定剂量计的配置 能够对空气中的多环芳烃浓度进行定量测量。这项工作的成果 将提供用于制造定量剂量计取样标记的设计原则 工作场所暴露于多环芳烃的特征。更广泛地说，工具和方法 通过这些努力开发的将使工人能够对多环芳烃暴露进行新的评估，以及 这一新知识可能会导致减少职业性癌症和其他有害健康的行动 结果，并创造更安全的工作场所。因此，这个SBIR项目的目标很好地实现了 NIOSH 2019年至2023年校外研究优先目标。

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.