610
Views
18
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Nanoparticle concentrations and composition in a dental office and dental laboratory: A pilot study on the influence of working procedures

, , , &
 

ABSTRACT

During material treatment in dentistry particles of different size are released in the air. To examine the degree of particle exposure, air scanning to dental employees was performed by the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. The size, shape and chemical composition of particles collected with a low-pressure impactor were determined by scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray dispersive analysis. The average concentrations of nanoparticles during working periods in a clean dental laboratory (45,000–56,000 particles/cm3), in an unclean dental laboratory (28,000–74,000 particles/cm3), and in a dental office (21,000–50,000 particles/cm3), were significantly higher compared to average concentrations during nonworking periods in the clean dental laboratory (11,000–24,000 particles/cm3), unclean laboratory (14,000–40,000 particles/cm3), and dental office (13,000–26,000 particles/cm3). Peak concentration of nanoparticles in work-intensive periods were found significantly higher (up to 773,000 particles/cm3), compared to the non-working periods (147,000 particles/cm3) and work-less intensive periods (365,000 particles/cm3). The highest mass concentration value ranged from 0.055–0.166 mg/m3. X-ray dispersive analysis confirmed the presence of carbon, potassium, oxygen, iron, aluminum, zinc, silicon, and phosphorus as integral elements of dental restorative materials in form of nanoparticle clusters, all smaller than 100 nm. We concluded that dental employees are exposed to nanoparticles in their working environment and are therefore potentially at risk for certain respiratory and systematic diseases.

Additional information

Funding

Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS [P3-074].

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.