Hazardous Posed by Burring Toenails
Q: I am wondering if you have any info or resources for occupational hazards and controls for exposure to nail dust from podiatrists burring toenails? There are a lot of articles on the web but I do not find any specific info from OSHA or NIOSH.
A: This wiki discusses the hazards associated with human nail dust and references 28 journal articles. The consensus among researchers is that protection of the airways and eyes is most important, so it's advisable to wear face protection during this procedure. At Quality America, we're constantly monitoring communications from government agencies such as OSHA and NIOSH, but we've never heard this particular hazard addressed. Our guess is that due to limited staff/funding, this issue hasn't surfaced above their radar.
We'll update this blog post if we run across anything else.
Posted by Quality America on January 9, 2008 | Comments (0)
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