Experimental evaluation of the penetration of TiO2 nanoparticles through protective clothing and gloves under conditions simulating occupational use

摘要

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO2) are found in numerous manufactured products. Whilea few studies have been carried out to measure the efficiency of chemical protective clothingand gloves against nanoparticles (NPs), they have generally not considered the conditions prevailing in occupational settings. This study was designed to evaluate the resistance of protectiveclothing against NPs under conditions simulating occupational use. Nitrile and butyl rubbergloves, as well as cotton/polyester woven and polyolefin non-woven clothing samples wereplaced into contact with nTiO2 in the form of powders or colloidal solutions. Simultaneously,mechanical deformations were applied to the samples. Preliminary results showed that nTiO2may penetrate some of the materials after prolonged dynamic deformations and/or when theNPs are in colloidal solutions. The effect was partly attributed to modifications in the physicaland mechanical properties of protective materials that were induced by repetitive mechanicaldeformations.