Occupational exposures to hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), occur during the production and use of stainless steel, chromate chemicals, and chromate pigments and operations such as chrome plating and coating processes. NIOSH considers all Cr(VI) compounds to be potential occupational carcinogens, and an increased risk of lung cancer has been demonstrated in exposed workers. Compliance with occupational exposure protection requirements for toxic metals is currently very difficult for industrial and government facilities to achieve. The purpose of this program is to create an automated, low-cost method for rapidly quantifying potential exposures to chromium via respiratory pathways. This will be accomplished by developing and field-testing analytical instrumentation and methodology to assist facilities in reducing the potential for occupational exposures to airborne chromium. The ultimate goal of the program is the creation of approved NIOSH and ASTM methods for automated airborne chromium analysis using ultrasonic extraction and adsorptive stripping voltammetry. This research plan is expected to firmly establish the technical basis for the new method, and will provide a capability in this field that does not currently exist. The potential for commercial application of this technology is extremely high due to its excellent sensitivity, rapid sample turnaround time, and low cost. All instrument functions are performed automatically, which differentiates the approach from any other method, and projects to a much more user-friendly design for use by industrial and government facilities. This program will also be instrumental in supporting the broader objective of developing a series of approved methods for automated monitoring and rapid analysis of other metals that pose health risks in occupational environments. A series of analyzers and methods based on ultrasonic extraction/electrochemical detection techniques is envisioned, which broadens the impact beyond chromium and supports the goal of effective, low-cost methods for the entire range of toxic respirable metals.
