Ricerc@Sapienza

Widespread production and use of engineered nanomaterials in industrial and research settings raise concerns about their health impact in the workplace. In the last years, graphene-based nanomaterials have gained particular interest in many application fields. Among them, graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) showed superior electrical, optical and thermal properties, low-cost and availability. Few and conflicting results have been reported about toxicity and potential effects on workers’ health, during the production and handling of these nanostructures.

Occupational solar radiation exposure is a relevant heath risk in the fishing sector. Our aim was to provide a detailed evaluation of individual UV exposure in three different fishing activities in Italy, with personal UV dosimeters and a simple formula to calculate the fraction of ambient erythemal UV dose received by the workers. The potential individual UV exposure of the fishermen was between 65 and 542 Joules/m2. The percentages of the ambient exposure were estimated between 2.5% and 65.3%.

AccordingtotheInternationalLaborOrganizationaccidentatworkand occupational diseases caused globally around 2.3 million deaths in 2014. The costs attributable to accidents at work and occupational diseases represent a loss of wealth amounting to 3.9% of global gross domestic product and 3.1% of that of all EU Member States. Accidents represent a significant social and business cost in all production processes, particularly in the construction sector, which in Europe and Italy has the highest rate of fatal accidents.