Exposição às Nanopartículas no Ambiente de Trabalho e os Riscos Potenciais à Saúde Humana: Uma Revisão Integrativa

Abstract

The emergence of nanotechnologies promotes the generation of products with enhanced properties in addition to economic and technological development. A concern in the field of worker health and safety are the potential risks of inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact of those who handle nanoparticles whether in laboratory synthesis, research, development, manufacture, use, recycling and disposal of the product. Particle size is one of the factors that make it very invasive to the human body and can generate environmental impacts, such as exposure to ecosystems. Professional exposure to these nanoparticles must be linked to methods of analysis of the operating environment, the study of nanoparticles for the recognition of physical and chemical characteristics in order to verify the risks when coming into contact with the human body, equipment to periodically control the levels of nanometric particles suspended in the air, and if necessary, collective and individual protection equipment to minimize or eliminate these harmful effects. In this scenario, research aimed at mitigating measures of the impact of nanoparticles on workers' health needs to develop at the same pace as the growth in production of this technology and the emergence of new ones. It is a continuous process and the risks of this activity need to be monitored according to the process and characteristics of the manipulated nanoparticle.