NIOSH Recommends Limits on Nano-Dust Exposure for Workers

ATLANTA — The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has issued specific new guidelines for workers in industries utilizing nanotechnology, warning that recent tests have shown respiratory and other hazards from carbon nanotube and nanofiber dust particles.

The warning came April 24 in a 145-page report entitled “Current Intelligence Bulletin 65,” which NIOSH urged be shared by employers with their workers and customers and with members of trade associations and labor organizations.

NIOSH recommends that workers exposed to nanoparticles — which are used in cosmetics and clothing, as well as in industrial and biomedical settings — be limited to …