Dermal exposure to UV-radiation and UV-curable acrylate coatings in the wood working industry

• The work with UV radiation curable coatings (UV-coatings), increasingly used in the wood working industry, involves risks from skin exposure to hazardous UV-radiation and to harmful compounds in UV-coatings. The coatings contain acrylates that are known skin irritants and sensitizers. Intensity and spectral emission of stray light from the curing lamps (UV-radiation 250-400 nm) was measured under production conditions. Maximal permissible exposure times were calculated from doses after biological weighting. Radiation in biologically hazardous wavelengths from poorly shielded UV curing units involved a risk of overexposure in a matter of seconds to minutes. An efficient, accurate, and economical method was developed for surface sampling and quantitative gas chromatographic determination of tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA), a major constituent of UV-lacquers. This method was employed in the workplaces for measuring (1) skin exposure, (2) surface contamination to UV-coatings and (3) protection efficiency of working clothes against skin contamination from UV-coatings. Skin exposure was measured at standardized sites, 3 to 4 times per work shift and at two separate workdays. Skin contamination was found on 16 of 23 workers at 6 of the 7 workplaces, and from 36 (5.4%) of the 664 samples taken from the skin of the workers. Surface contamination was widely spread at workplaces and found in 153 out of 196 samples (78%). T-shirt fabric, commonly used by the workers provided marginal protection, whereas thicker working cloth fabrics provided acceptable protection against UV-coating. The tape sampling method provides a powerful tool to measure skin and surface contamination, which is a common but previously unstudied problem. Skin exposure to acrylates can be minimised by eliminating the use of hazardous coatings, by education and by improving control measures.

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