Exposure assessment of organic solvents for aircraft paint stripping and spraying workers

The main objective of this study is to investigate the personal or area exposure of organic solvents during paint stripping and paint spraying. Three aircraft paint stripping/spraying workplaces in Taiwan were selected, and the Council of Labor Affairs and NIOSH recommended sampling/analytical methods used in this study. Activated charcoal tubes were used to investigate the personal and area exposure concentration of organic solvents in paint stripping and paint spraying operations. During aircraft paint stripping, experiment results show that methylene chloride personal exposure concentration at the ground area, 42.01+/-31.86 ppm, is higher than that at the working platform 4 M high above the ground, 20.41+/-11.43 ppm. Exposure concentration of methylene chloride in the initial paint stripping operation stage of every workplace is over the PEL (50 ppm) set by the Taiwan Council of Labor Affairs. Corrective actions are needed. During paint spraying, concentrations of all organic solvents were found to be below the PEL of OSHA.