The largest industrial groups exposed include fabricated metal products, boiler, tank and shipping container manufacturing, services to buildings and dwellings, and building equipment contractors. The largest occupational groups exposed to vanadium pentoxide are boilermakers, followed by welders, specialized cleaners, and other labourers in processing, manufacturing, and utilities.

Other occupations that may be exposed to vanadium pentoxide are specialized cleaners, industrial mechanics, artisans and craftspersons, petroleum refiners, and ceramicists (where vanadium is used as a pigment).[2]

Our Occupational Approach page outlines the general approach used to calculate prevalence and exposure level estimates for workplace exposures.

Data Sources

Data used in developing the occupational estimates for vanadium pentoxide were collected from several sources:

1. The Canadian Workplace Exposure Database (CWED) contains approximately 600 measurements for vanadium pentoxide exposure. These measurements were collected during the years 1981 to 2004 in Ontario and British Columbia workplaces.
2. Canadian and US scientific peer reviewed publications that addressed vanadium pentoxide exposure in Canada and the United States.
3. Grey literature including technical reports from governments and international bodies.

Prevalence Estimate Method

CAREX defines exposure to vanadium pentoxide as inhalation or dermal exposure to the compound above levels encountered in the general environment.

To determine the number of workers potentially exposed to vanadium pentoxide at work, CAREX occupational exposure experts used methods previously established in other peer-reviewed CAREX projects in Europe. A series of steps were taken to assign exposure proportions to occupations and industries at risk of exposure to vanadium pentoxide.

1. Occupations and industries at risk of possible exposure to vanadium pentoxide were identified using any combination of data sources described above.
2. The total number of workers in each identified occupation and industry intersection was obtained from Statistics Canada 2016 census data.
3. A percentage of workers exposed was assigned to that occupation and industry intersection. Percentages were determined by consultation with existing evidence in the data sources, previously established methods from the Europe CAREX estimates and the expert judgement of CAREX occupational hygienists.
4. The number of workers in the identified group is multiplied by the assigned percentage to calculate the prevalence estimate of workers exposed to vanadium pentoxide.