Aim Ev@lutil is an online database documenting occupational exposures to fibres such as asbestos. In 2014, it has been extended to engineered and unintentional nanoscale particles (NP).

Methods Through a literature review, NP exposure data are extracted from scientific articles which are progressively analysed by industrial hygienists. Data describing NP occupational exposure situations and the related measurement results are recorded in a documentary database developed specifically for the NP. In the absence of standardised measurement strategy of NP, special attention was paid to the transcription in clear and in details of measurement methods used. A synthesis of the collected exposure data is also available in Excel format on the website and is regularly updated. NP database is in free access in French and in English on Internet (https://ssl2.isped.u-bordeaux2.fr/eva_003/) and can be queried according to three search modes: “simple” (keyword input), “advanced” (search criteria entry: author, occupation, operation…) and “expert” (free combination of search criteria).

Results NP database was recently developed but it already contains more than 230 measurements and synthesis analysis coming from 270 scientific articles. Unintentional NP, combustion processes and thermal engines are the most documented. About 80% of the scientific articles have information on particles concentration and especially in number which is the metric most frequently measured, and 90%, on physicochemical characteristics (chemical species, size distribution, morphology…).

Conclusion Documenting NP occupational exposure and through the future availability of a job-exposure matrix to unintentional NP (MatPUF), Ev@lutil continues to contribute to the improvement of knowledge about health effects of inhaled particles and to prevention of associated risks to this exposure. Finally, by collecting all measurement methods available for NP, Ev@lutil contributes to recognise and characterise occupational exposures to these particles and to determine the most appropriate measurement parameters for NP.