Workers at airports may be exposed to the exhaust of both Diesel Engine Emissions (DEE) from a wide variety of equipment, such as ground power units and tow trucks, as well as to Aircraft Engine Exhaust (AEE). Workers on the aprons where aircrafts are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled and boarded may be particularly high exposed. Particle number concentrations of up to several 100.000/cm3 over several hours and up to several millions/cm3 during short term peaks were measured.
Effective control of exposure to AEE is a complex issue. While DEE is a formally WHO IARC classified carcinogen, for AEE this is less clear, and specific literature is relatively scarce. This affects the extent of employers’ obligations to minimise exposure. However, AEE contain various components that are formally classified carcinogens, in relatively low amounts. This means, that limiting the exposure as much as possible is desirable.
Latest developments in our knowledge on the toxicology of AEE and worker exposure will be
presented, as well as the options for control measures and their potential drivers and bottlenecks for these measures.
Speaker: Jeroen Terwoert
Jeroen Terwoert works as an occupational hygienist at the Centre of Expertise of the Netherlands Labour Authority (NLA). His main field of expertise is exposure assessment of hazardous substances, risk communication and effective control of exposure. At the NLA, his main tasks include supporting, advising and training labour inspectors, developing information and training materials, assessing risk assessment and management tools in use by companies and sectors, and serving as a general centre of expertise for the NLA.
More information: WEBINAR_aircraft_emissions
Link to the webinar recording: https://youtu.be/Nry8_F_NuyY