Emerging Areas in Chemistry From the Informal Sector to Frontier Science. Barry Kistnasamy, South Africa

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1 Emerging Areas in Chemistry From the Informal Sector to Frontier Science Barry Kistnasamy, South Africa

2 Overview What are the achievements & issues What tools do we have Way forward

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4 Life Expectancy 2002, 2030 (WHO, GBD)

5 Looking at the World differently

6 More Illness and Fewer Health Workers in Africa WHO: Human Resources for Health, 2006

7 Quantifying Health Impact of Climate Change Africa region South-East Asia Eastern Mediterranean Latin America and Caribbean Western Pacific region OECD countries Diarrhoeal diseases Malaria Unintentional injuries Protein-energy malnutrition Cardiopulmonary diseases Respirator y infections Trachea/ bronchus/ lung cancers Climate change Air pollution Burden of disease by region: Climate change and air pollution Disability Adjusted Life Year / million. World Health Report 2002.

8 Across the world 6300 workers die every day 2.3m deaths a year 337m accidents in workplaces 4% of world GDP lost staying alive while earning a living

9 Chemicals Part of everyday life & work 5 to 7 million known; 400 million tons produced % of all chemical produced in 16 countries (North) By 2020, countries of the South will lead production Environmental Outlook for the Chemicals Industry, OECD, 2001

10 The Informal Sector

11 The Second Economy

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14 Use of Mercury in Small Scale Mining Small-Scale Gold Mining: Panning with Mercury

15 Chamber of Mines Dust Committee 1914 SOUTH AFRICA 1930 Int. Silicosis Conf 1959 AJ Orenstein s pioneering work on dust

16 Mesothelioma (1960) Asbestos and Diamonds Wagner et al. Difuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province. Brit J industr Med. 1960

17 Nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the creation of USEFUL/FUNCTIONAL materials, devices and systems (of any useful size) through control/manipulation of matter on the nanometer length scale and exploitation of novel phenomena and properties which arise because of the nanometer length scale Meyyappan M. NASA AMES Research Center Nanometer One billionth (10-9 ) of a meter Hydrogen atom 0.04 nm Proteins ~ 1-20 nm Feature size of computer chips 90 nm (in 2005) Diameter of human hair ~ 10 µm

18 Occurrence of Nanoscale Particulate Materials E. Clayton Teague, NNCO, April 2004

19 Routes of Exposure Inhalation Ingestion Skin absorption

20 Potential Bio uptake of Nanoscale Particulates Nanoparticles may enter living cells via: Endocytosis Receptor activation for initiation Membrane penetration Generally occurs with very hydrophobic particles Transmembrane channels May be seen with very small nanoparticles (< 5 nm) Vicki Colvin, Rice University

21 Problem areas for Regulation of Particulates E. Clayton Teague, NNCO, April 2004.

22 In all things there is a poison, and there is nothing without a poison. It depends only upon the dose whether a poison is poison or not. Paracelsus ( )

23 Working with Chemicals Single versus multiple exposure Users generally cannot measure / analyse hazards Need safety information for safe handling Information flow along supply chain (manufacturers, distributors, employers, workers) Storage & transportation Disposal

24 Hazard and Risk A risk is created by a hazard A toxic chemical that is a hazard to worker s health does not constitute a health risk unless there is exposure to that particular hazard

25 Risk?

26 A Systematic Approach to a Safe Workplace Aim to create a safe workplace Is the workplace safe? ASSESSMENT TRAINING INFORMATION 1. Identify hazards 2. Assess risk 3. Control risk Any new hazards? Is the risk controlled? 4. Review

27 Exposure Assessment Ambient monitoring Measuring the concentration of the agent in the workplace air Biological monitoring Measuring concentrations of chemicals or its metabolites in biological fluids

28 Control Banding Stoffenmanager a web based control banding tool Small & medium sized companies Allows workers / non-experts to conduct exposure assessments Exposure scores assigned to exposure bands Marquart H. Et al. Annuals of Occ Hyg. Vol 52,No 6,

29 Interventions

30 The Hierarchy of Control Level 1. Elimination Level 2. Safe place options - Substitution -Isolation - Engineering controls Level 3. Safe person options - Administrative controls/ safe work practices - Personal protective equipment

31 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Only used: if you cannot reduce the risk by other means or as a temporary measure TYPES OF PPE

32 Fitness to wear respirator testing

33 As we go forward Capacity building to take account of Safety, Health & the Environment Evaluation and analysis of the data eg.,reach Infrastructure (analytic capacity, laboratories) Information sharing, cooperation and learning from each other Continued development of better methods for risk assessments & control

34 Together we can Fit for work, Fit for life, Fit for tomorrow HSE, 2005