AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—will welcome leading international experts from several fields, including occupational health, toxicology, risk assessment and communication, dermatology, product stewardship, consumer fields, and more to the ninth Occupational and Environmental Exposure of the Skin to Chemicals (OEESC) Conference this September 23-25 in Dulles, VA. The first OEESC conference was sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and took place in Washington, D.C. in 2002. Most recently, the conference was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 2019. As an international conference, OEESC has occurred largely in Europe or Canada since its 2002 debut. The exchange of information between the multidisciplinary participants over the past two decades has enabled significant steps forward in the prevention of ill health due to skin exposure. For the 2024 conference, AIHA felt compelled to host the experience stateside and continue the advancement of worker safety as it relates to skin exposure. The American Chemistry Council (ACC), Insight Exposure and Risk Sciences Group, and Peter Greven US Corporation have partnered with AIHA for the event.

The nature of skin protection is changing. “As more chemicals are introduced into the workplace and inhalation-route occupational exposure limits continue to decrease, dermal exposure to chemicals becomes increasingly significant,” said Rebecca Burton, CIH, CSP, member of AIHA’s Dermal and Surface Sampling Working Group. "However, a lack of standardization and scientific consensus makes assessing this type of exposure difficult. Several methods have been proposed for assessing these exposures and establishing dermal exposure limits or surface limits, so the guidance for industrial hygienists varies widely. By bringing together multidisciplinary experts from all over the world to discuss research, share discoveries, and exchange ideas, OEESC will help drive scientific consensus and enable progress in the prevention of ill health due to skin exposure.”

The OEESC conference will feature sessions from a variety of topics organized into multiple tracks including surface sampling, dermal risk assessment approaches, skin decontamination, sensor technologies, dermal biological exposures, dermal uptake and modeling, and health effects. Many in the OEHS industry feel strongly about these topics and the need for improvement in the field of skin exposure. “This conference will be a great learning experience for anyone with a stake in occupational dermal exposure management, particularly those who work in industries where dermal exposure or chemicals with skin hazards such as sensitization are common, or industries that use chemicals designed to affect change in the body, such as pharmaceuticals or medicine,” said Burton.

About AIHA

AIHA is the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community. Founded in 1939, we support our members with our expertise, networks, comprehensive education programs, and other products and services that help them maintain the highest professional and competency standards. More than half of AIHA's nearly 8,500 members are Certified Industrial Hygienists, and many hold other professional designations. AIHA serves as a resource for those employed across the public and private sectors, as well as to the communities in which they work. For more information, visit www.aiha.org.

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