DermExpoDB - database application to collect and share measurement data on skin exposure at workplaces
Handling chemicals at the workplace can lead to skin contact with these chemicals called skin exposure or dermal exposure. The type and duration of the activity performed with a chemical determines which regions of the body may be exposed and to what extent. The way in which the chemical reaches the skin (e.g. splashes, direct contact) also depends on the activity.
Since workers (and consumers to a lesser extent) can be repeatedly and regularly exposed to harmful chemicals, European chemical legislation provides for a risk assessment of chemicals also for the skin. Additionally, employers must perform workplace risk assessments according to occupational health and safety legislation to avoid risks from dermal exposure at the workplace. Both risk assessments include an estimation of the nature and extent of workers' skin contact with chemicals. In many cases, the assessment of dermal exposure is based on model estimations and dermal measurements are only rarely available for risk assessments. However, various institutes have carried out such measurements and the associated information collections over the past 20 years.
DermExpoDB intends to compile these data, in order to make better use of the limited data that is available to date. The purpose of the DermExpoDB is to:
- share and exchange dermal exposure data between different institutes for research purposes, e.g. calibration/validation of dermal exposure models,
- make occupational dermal exposure data available to outside parties for research and development purposes, and
- process occupational dermal exposure data in a scientific and usable way and make it available for the general public
If you have occupational dermal exposure data and an interest in sharing it, please contact us. We would be happy to expand the data range of DermExpoDB and are therefore always on the lookout for more data. If you are interested in occupational dermal exposure data for your scientific research and developments, please contact us. We were happy to have you as a registered user making scientific use of the data in DermExpoDB.