IOM organises a workshop on Manganese exposure on 4 December 2008
The IOM has a strong history in assessing exposure to and risk from exposure to metals in the workplace, including exposure to manganese, which is primarily used to make steel. Over 90% of manganese in alloyed form is consumed by the steel industry. Manganese is also used in a wide range of other applications including batteries, fertilizers, water purification and waste water treatment, and fuel additives. We have previously collaborated with the Institute of Environmental Health to develop a healthy criteria document on manganese and inorganic manganese compounds. In addition, we have carried out a review of the quantity and quality of manganese occupational exposure data held by the industry. The IOM is continuing research in the area of occupational exposure assessment for manganese with two new projects.
The first project will develop a sophisticated and comprehensive database tool to hold measurements of occupational airborne manganese exposure. This database has been developed for the manganese industry with funding from the Manganese Health Research Program . Our aim is to develop a tool that can be used for a large-scale epidemiological survey. However, the database has also been developed to encourage the collection, storage and analyses of exposure data for risk management and regulatory risk assessments (e.g. in relation to the new EU REACH regulations).
The second project involves the development of a world-wide standard methodology for measurement of occupational airborne manganese exposure. This is important as the use of different sampling methods, with varying sampling efficiencies, may lead to the implementation of different control requirements, even though the same exposure limit is applied. This could result in workers in one country being exposed to hazardous levels of manganese, whilst in another country unnecessarily stringent and expensive control measures are introduced. The International Manganese Institute (IMnI) has funded the IOM to review the available sampling methods and propose and implement a standardised method within the manganese industry.
On the 4th December 2008, the IOM will host a workshop to discuss both projects with representatives from the manganese industry. The main aim of the workshop is to reach an agreement on the choice of sampling method for airborne manganese and on the design of exposure surveys to compare the performance of the proposed method with traditional methods in a range of companies. Secondly, following several trials with the Manganese Exposure Database Tool (Manganex) in two companies, the final prototype of the database tool will be presented to IMnI member companies. The workshop is co-organised by the IMnI and participants are expected from all the main IMnI member companies.
These projects confirm the status of the IOM as an international centre of excellence in the field of exposure and risk assessment for metals.