Contaminated glow

Workers exposed to
hazardous
chemicals at work
often use
protective clothing
to prevent
skin contamination.
But they still
run the risk of
exposure (Spectrum,
September- October,
1995).

To assess the
effectiveness of the
protective clothing,
a group of occupational hygienists
at the Health
and Safety
Laboratory in Britain
developed a new
method to measure
skin contamination,
using a fluorescence monitor. It
detects the chemical used by the
workers using ultra-
violet light. The
glowing dye indicates the spot where
the chemical
splashed. The extent
of contamination is indicated by
the intensity of
the glow.