Abstract

There is a long tradition of using direct-reading instruments to assess occupational exposures. Low-cost environmental sensors are increasingly becoming available, although they are mostly being developed for air pollution monitoring or for the consumer market. These devices are typically less accurate and less precise than has been used in workplaces, but they have the advantage of being easy to deploy and are often connected to a wireless network to facilitate data storage. There are also increasing possibilities for tracking the location and activity of individual workers, and to assess the interaction between workers and their environment or the equipment they use. All these technologies are still emergent and there has been little use of them in workplaces. Further efforts are needed to define the required level of accuracy and how data can be processed and managed before they can be reliably used to contribute to measuring the exposome in the workplace.