Deriving default dermal exposure values for use in a risk assessment toolkit for small and medium-sized enterprises.

This paper describes the derivation of default task-based dermal exposure values for use in a risk assessment toolkit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A set of separately determined dermal exposure modifiers have been applied to published studies of dermal exposure to obtain 'normalized' dermal exposure data sets. These data sets are grouped according to task and then further subdivided by making a distinction between processes involving solid and liquid products. For each of the resulting 12 groups, two default exposure rates are required: potential exposure rate to the hands and potential exposure rate to the body. Default values for risk assessment are then derived by taking a weighted average of the 75th percentiles of these normalized exposure distributions. In addition, a measure of peak surface concentration is required to take into account the risk of local skin effects. The higher of the (modified) hand and body exposure rates after applying the relevant penetration factors for clothing and gloves is used. Usually this will be the hand exposure rate. These default values serve as robust initial exposure estimates in a risk assessment toolkit for SMEs.