Abstract  The desire to build more energy efficient homes in the United States has led to the expansion of the residential spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation industry. Upon application of SPF, reacting chemicals form expanding polyurethane foam that fills cracks and gaps, reducing infiltration and thermal conductivity of the building envelope. However, more information is being sought on chemical emissions from SPF to better understand occupant exposures and any potential impacts on health. The objective of this investigation was to investigate the emission of flame retardant tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) from SPF using both micro-chambers and a full scale residential test facility. Two high pressure, open cell foams and one high pressure, closed cell foam were tested using micro-chambers. After 100 hours, TCPP concentrations from the open cell samples were 100 times higher than TCPP concentrations from the closed cell SPF. TCPP emissions from open cell foam were found to correlate exponentially with temperature and vary with flow rate, indicating emission factors from SPF micro-chamber experiments may not directly predict TCPP concentrations in buildings without consideration of material mass transfer properties. Due to the use of TCPP in furniture, SPF has not previously been positively identified as a primary source of indoor TCPP concentrations in actual buildings. This research measured airborne TCPP concentrations in the furniture-free National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) that contained 15 m of exposed, two-year-old, open cell SPF. The measured NZERTF TCPP emission rates were not directly predicted by emission factors from the micro-chamber measurements, which suggests a mass transfer-based modelling approach is needed for predicting TCPP concentrations from open cell SPF. More research is needed to determine how data from micro-chamber studies can be used to predict exposures of residential occupants to emissions from SPF foam.

Abstract  An initial study of processing bioresorbable polycaprolactone (PCL) through material jetting was conducted using a Fujifilm Dimatix DMP-2830 material printer. The aim of this work was to investigate a potential solvent based method of jetting polycaprolactone. Several solvents were used to prepare a PCL solvent based ink and 1, 4-dioxane was chosen with the consideration of both solubility and safety. The morphology of PCL formed under different substrate temperatures, droplet spacings were investigated. Multi-layer PCL structures were printed and characterized. This work shows that biodegradable polycaprolactone can be processed through material jetting.

Abstract  Personal and area air samples were collected in two film laboratories (SIC-7819) in Hollywood, California for formaldehyde (50000), acetic-acid (64197), and organic solvents. Evaluation was requested by the Film Technicians Local No. 683 and was performed in 1980 and 1981. A medical questionnaire was distributed. Formaldehyde concentrations were below California standards of 2 parts per million in one laboratory. Acetic-acid was under the limit of detection of 0.05 milligrams. In the second laboratory, organic vapor and acetic-acid were below evaluation criteria except for methyl-chloroform (71556) which showed one area sample concentration of 4431 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) (NIOSH standard is 1900mg/m3) but this was not an area where employees were normally exposed. Formaldehyde concentrations in this laboratory occasionally exceeded evaluation standards 5 fold. Symptoms reported were: persistent irritant contact dermatitis; eye and upper respiratory irritation; transient defatting dermatitis; and anesthetic effects on fingers. The group exposed to final products reported irritation to eyes and upper respiratory system. The bleach accelerator process produced severe dermatitis in a high proportion of workers; organic solvents and residual formaldehyde in final products produced milder symptoms. The authors conclude that employees are overexposed only to formaldehyde at one laboratory.

Abstract  Human skin behaves as a semipermeable membrane, permitting uptake of chemicals from the external environment. Negative consequences of dermal exposure to chemicals are well documented and include both local and systemic effects. Evaluation and management of potential toxicity and risk associated with dermal exposure requires prediction of the rate and extent of chemical absorption. Historically, both experimental and mathematical approaches have been applied to the investigation of absorption processes. This chapter reviews factors influencing the outcome of absorption experiments and describes rudimentary characteristics of mathematical models. It is intended to provide useful perspective to persons responsible for conducting, interpreting, or implementing occupational or environmental health risk assessments that involve dermal exposure.

Abstract  Mathematical models of skin permeability play an important role in various fields including prediction of transdermal drug delivery and assessment of dermal exposure to industrial chemicals. Extensive research has been performed over the last several decades to yield predictions of skin permeability to various molecules. These efforts include the development of empirical approaches such as quantitative structure-permeability relationships and porous pathway theories as well as the establishment of rigorous structure-based models. In addition to establishing the necessary mathematical framework to describe these models, efforts have also been dedicated to determining the key parameters that are required to use these models. This article provides an overview of various modeling approaches with respect to their advantages, limitations and future prospects.

Abstract  Fundamental understanding of thermodynamic of phase separation plays a key role in tuning the desired features of biomedical devices. In particular, phase separation of ternary solution is of remarkable interest in processes to obtain biodegradable and biocompatible architectures applied as artificial devices to repair, replace, or support damaged tissues or organs. In these perspectives, thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) is the most widely used technique to obtained porous morphologies and, in addition, among different ternary systems, polylactic acid (PLLA)/dioxane/water has given promising results and has been largely studied. However, to increase the control of TIPS-based processes and architectures, an investigation of the basic energetic phenomena occurring during phase separation is still required. Here we propose an experimental investigation of the selected ternary system by using isothermal titration calorimetric approach at different solvent/antisolvent ratio and a thermodynamic explanation related to the polymer-solvents interactions in terms of energetic contribution to the phase separation process. Furthermore, relevant information about the phase diagrams and interaction parameters of the studied systems are furnished in terms of liquid-liquid miscibility gap. Indeed, polymer-solvents interactions are responsible for the mechanism of the phase separation process and, therefore, of the final features of the morphologies; the knowledge of such data is fundamental to control processes for the production of membranes, scaffolds and several nanostructures. The behavior of the polymer at different solvent/nonsolvent ratios is discussed in terms of solvation mechanism and a preliminary contribution to the understanding of the role of the hydrogen bonding in the interface phenomena is also reported. It is the first time that thermodynamic data of a ternary system are collected by mean of nano-isothermal titration calorimetry (nano-ITC). Supporting Information is available.