Skin exposure from wood surface coating work at the UV-radiation curing lines

Sammanfattning: The use of ultraviolet radiation curable coatings (UV-coatings) has increased rapidly in the furniture and parquet industry. Wood surface coating work at the UV-radiation curing lines involves risk from skin exposure to damaging UV-radiation and to harmful compounds in UV-coatings. UV-coatings contain acrylates, which are well-known skin irritants and sensitizers. Yet, there has been little information of the type UV radiation and exposure levels, and no methods to measure skin exposure to UV-coatings in occupational settings. We studied intensity and spectral irradiance (between 250-400 nm) of the UV-radiation emitted to the surrounding of the UV curing units under production conditions in six workplaces. The results indicated that it is possible to expose to a high intensity UV-radiation at certain working tasks in a matter of minutes or seconds, and that the wavelengths of UVR emitted from the lamps are biologically hazardous. One of the active components in commonly used UV-curable coatings, tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA) is both allergen and irritant to the skin. A skin sampling method and quantitative gas chromatographic method for measuring dermal exposure to TPGDA in UV-lacquers was developed and validated. This method can be used in the workplaces for assessing dermal exposure to UV-coatings that contain TPGDA.