Korean Chemical Engineering Research, Vol.50, No.1, 112-117, February, 2012
나노물질 생산시설의 환경노출 평가와 안전관리
Nano-safety Management and Exposure Assessment of Nanomaterials Producing Facilities
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초록
나노기술의 발전과 함께 나노물질을 포함한 소비재가 대중화되고 있다. 그러나 지난 10여년간 조심스럽게 제기되고 있는 나노물질의 잠재적 위해성으로 인해, 나노제품 사용을 불안해하고 있다. 특히 나노제품을 직접 취급하는 생산시설(연구소 및 업체)의 작업자는 직접적인 인체 노출을 초래하게 된다. 따라서 이들에 대한 인체 및 환경 노출 안전관리를 위하여, 직접적인 노출평가가 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 기상 및 액상 반응을 통해 나노물질을 생산하는 두 곳의 업체를 현장 방문하여 나노물질의 주요 노출대상 공정과 노출원을 파악하고 SMPS를 이용한 실시간 현장 모니터링을 실시하였다. 분석 결과, 액상 공정도 기상으로의 나노입자 노출이 심각하게 발생하고 있음을 확인하였다. 가장 문제가 되는 점은 나노물질의 잠재적인 위해성에 관한 인식의 부족으로 제대로 된 방호활동을 못하고 있다는 점이다. 따라서 보다 다양한 나노물질 취급 시설에 대한 환경노출 평가가 필요하고 이를 바탕으로 한 나노물질 취급 안전관리 방법이 제시되어야 한다.
With the development of nanotechnology, nano-consumer products have been popularized. For the past 10years, potential risk of nanomaterials to human and environment have been raised carefully. Especially, workers, who directly handle nanomaterials in laboratories and manfacturers, will lead to direct exposure of nanomaterials. Therefore, direct exposure assessment and field monitoring of nanomaterials are required to assess and manage the nanomaterial exposure to human and environment. In this work, two nano-manufacturing companies, which had plasma and sol-gel processes, were selected to analyze the main exposure source and process with in-situ SMPS (scanning mobility particle sizer) and ex-situ TEM (transmission electron microscopy). The results showed that the colloidal nanoparticle in liquid phase was easily evaporated and monitored by SMPS. Most serious thing is that the workers does not know about the potential risk of nanomaterials, and thus they are not taking proper protection activities, such as PPE (personal protective equipment). Therefore, exposure assessment for nanomaterial handling facilities should be additionally carried out, and nano-safety management protocols are also provided.
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