職業性溴丙烷暴露及手套防護效能評估研究

The Occupational Exposure and the Glove Protection Effectiveness Assessment of Bromopropane

1-溴丙烷（n-propyl bromide或1-bromopropane, 1-溴丙烷）為替代破壞臭氧層物質（OzoneDepletion Substances, ODS）的化合物之一，主要使用於金屬、塑膠、電子和光學元件清洗、去脂及黏著噴霧（adhesive spray applications）、乾洗、溶劑噴霧（solvent spray）等產品應用。動物實驗及人體流行病學實驗皆已證實其具神經毒性、肝毒性及生殖發育毒性，ACGIH列為A3，確認為動物致癌物。目前我國尚並未訂定職業容許暴露標準，但在日本、美國及國內皆已有職業病確診案例，由此可見1-溴丙烷職業暴露問題不容忽視。勞安所104年調查國內溴丙烷使用廠家，並採集區域及個人空氣暴露樣本，以瞭解勞工溴丙烷暴露實態。採樣結果發現直接暴露組（清洗作業勞工）之作業環境空氣中溴丙烷濃度高於USEPA推薦之職業容許暴露濃度25 ppm、Cal OSHA的5 ppm及ACGIH所訂定的TLV 0.1 ppm。另本研究亦測試廠家及工業上常用之5種防護手套：氯丁橡膠（Neoprene）手套、丁腈（Nitrile）手套、天然乳膠（NRL）手套、丁基橡膠（Butyl）手套及銀盾（Silver Sheild(R)）手套，前四種手套皆於15分鐘就發生滲透現象，無法有效保護勞工手部皮膚對1-溴丙烷的暴露；建議提供勞工配戴銀盾手套作為手部防護措施，但是總使用時間以8小時為原則。

1-Bromopropane (n-propyl bromide or 1-bromopropane, 1-BP), a replacement of ozone depletingsubstances (ODS), mainly used for metal, plastic, electronic and optical elements cleaning anddegreasing, adhesive spray applications, dry-cleaning solvent spray and other applications. The animalstudies and human epidemiological studies have demonstrated that the neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity,and reproductive and developmental toxicity of 1-BP. The ACGIH classified 1-BP as an A3 chemical,confirmed animal carcinogen. At present, our government does not announce the permissible exposurelevel of 1-BP. However, several confirmed occupational diseases have been reported in Japan, theUnited States and Taiwan. It indicated that the occupational exposures of 1-BP cannot be ignored.This project investigated the exposure profiles of three manufacturers which used 1-BP in theirmanufacturing processes. Personal and area air samples were collected and analyzed to evaluatethe exposure status of workers. The concentrations of area samples exceeded the recommendedpermissible concentrations suggested by either US EPA, Cal OSHA or ACGIH.Five most commonly used protective gloves - neoprene gloves glove, nitrile glove, natural latexglove, butyl rubber glove and Silver Shield® glove were tested for the protective efficiencies of 1-BP.Except for Silver Shield® glove, the other four gloves were broken through by1-BP within 15 minuteswithout effective protection. Silver Shield® glove was recommended to be used to provide workersthe appropriate hand protection, but the total use time should not exceed eight hours.