25 Strategy for Assessing Exposure of Ship Painters to a Mixture of Organic Solvents

Abstract Background Painters are exposed to different substances, among which volatile organic compounds. Similar Exposure Groups (SEG) should be identified according to the European Standard EN:689/2019 to perform representative measurements of exposure. This approach was applied to 15 ship painters. Methods Two SEGs were identified considering environment and application technique: 6 spray painters (group A) working inside a hangar and 9 roller painters (group B) working on the ship. Gaseous toluene, xylenes, acetone, ethylacetate, n-butyl acetate, ethylbenzene and benzene were collected using Radiello samplers and determined by GC/MS. Results The ratios between each exposure value and the corresponding occupational exposure limit (Italian for toluene, xylenes, acetone, ethylbenzene, and benzene; German for ethylacetate and n-butyl acetate) were below 0.5 for Group A and well below 0.1 for Group B. Considering the common neurotoxic effect, workers’ exposure was also evaluated for the additive contribution of each component to the mixture. The mixture exposure index resulted 1.01 for spray painters and 0.09 for roller painters. Short Discussion/Conclusions Considering single substances, exposure levels were below the limits for both groups; when the mixture exposure is assessed, it reaches the mixture occupational limit for group A (spray) while it remains well below for group B (rollers). Results confirm that environment features and application techniques significantly affect the exposure levels, that are to be monitored on a SEG basis, and that considering the exposure to the mixture is crucial in order to orient the medical surveillance to prevent the neurotoxic effect in spray painters.