Engineered Nanomaterials (Term Paper Sample)

Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Professor:
Date:
Topic: ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS
Background
The atomic functions and/ or properties of matter are manipulated to develop systems, devices or materials with improved characteristics through nanotechnology. Several economic sectors such as consumer products, communications, energy, industry, agriculture and healthcare are expected to benefit from introduction of nanotechnology (Sellers et al., 2009). Materials and systems that manufactured through nanotechnology are defined as nanomaterials. Nano is derived from Greek word which means dwarf and is used in this context as a prefix. These materials have between 1 and 100 nm as one their primary dimensions. Improved characteristics of engineered nanomaterials include: high magnetic or optical properties; high conductivity of both heat and electricity; and high weight/strength ratios. Engineered nanomaterials include metal oxides and gold (Sellers et al. 2009).
Industrial Overview
There were only 212 engineered nanomaterials for consumption in March 2006 and they were classified into eight different groups (WWICS 2011). However, by March 2011, the number of engineered nanomaterials increased to 1,317. 738 of these engineered nanomaterials are used for fitness and health. 313 of the engineered nanomaterials are made of silver, 91 of them are made of carbon while titanium dioxide has been used to make 59 products. These engineered nanomaterials used for fitness and health of my concerned because I am an industrial hygienist.
Exposure Control Strategies
The following are some of the exposure control strategies that I am going to discussion in this white paper.
Prevention through Design strategy is implemented by the designers of the product to ensure that hazards are minimized at the initial stage. It is normally referred to as design for safety and it is the most highly recommended exposure control strategies for engineered nanomaterials. Products in the pharmaceutical industry have to be contained making implementation of this strategy to face several challenges are still being addressed (Brock.., 2009).
Occupational exposure limits strategy can be used in the pharmaceutical industry to assess the performance of the engineering controls and exposure potential of the workers before provision of quantitative guidelines. For instance, workers are allowed to expose themselves to engineered nanomaterials such as nanoscale for a maximum of 10 hours a day (CDC). This would be helpful for the company to provide safety to its workers.
Nanotechnology Processes and Engineering Controls
Nanotechnology processes occur in six distinct stages depending on required chemical composition, sizes and even shapes.
Gas phase process which includes high temperature evaporation, plasma synthesis and flame pyrolysis. In this phase, gaseous, liquid or solid raw materials are deposited to a reactor after which they are subjected to high temperatures to form nanoparticles. Before nucleated growth is achieved, the raw materials are heated and cooled continuously to become supersaturated (Brock.., 2009).
Chemical vapor deposition is the process that allows enhances formation of thin layers of silicon semiconductors. Several chemical processes such as nitridation, reduction, pyrolysis and oxidation take place in the reactor to form continuous films on the semiconductor wafers. CTNs is one of the products prepared through this process and can be fluidized into large scale production.
Liquid or colloidal phase method is used to form colloids through chemical reactions. Colloids are insoluble precipitates that are formed ions reactions. It is one of the simplest nanotechnology processes that are used to produce engineered nanomaterials such as silver and gold. These materials are produced in liquid form (Brock.., 2009).
Mechanical processes such as grinding, alloying and milling are used to break raw materials into simpler and smaller nanomaterials. Nanomaterials have improved qualities compared to their parent materials.
Molecular beam epitaxy and atomic layer epitaxy involve deposition of several one molecule thick layers. Deposits due to molecular beam epitaxy are crystalline in nature.
Dip pen lithography is the process used to form nanomaterials on surface of a given substrate. Chemical is spread on the tip of atomic force microscope and released on the substrate’s surface in a given format.
Development and application of a product is dependent of engineered nanomaterials through downstream processes. Activities that are associated with it are evaluated with respect to their sources of exposure (WWICS 2011).
Engineering controls are used to ensure that the worker in the pharmaceutical industry does not come into contact with a hazard. Engineering controls are normally does not require training from users if properly designed (Brock.., 2009). Exposure control limits are used in pharmaceutical industry as a form of engineering control. When this approach is executed in a pharmaceutical industry, risks are assessed using semi quantitative or qualitative criteria (Naumann et al. 1996). Some of the concepts such as cleansing and disposal, LEV, IH monitoring, maintenance, medical monitoring can be used to ensure that engineeri...