许多工作场所都会吸入氧化铁，在热处理过程（例如焊接、铸造）或钢铁产品的磨损过程（例如切割、研磨、机加工、抛光、打磨）或处理氧化铁颜料期间会产生可吸入气溶胶。有限的证据表明，对人类的不利影响与吸入氧化铁特别相关。这与用于钢铁合金或涂层的其他金属氧化物形成鲜明对比，其中一些金属氧化物已被国际和国家机构列为危险品。此类金属氧化物通常存在于工作场所的空气中。一般来说，氧化铁可能因此被视为低毒性、低溶解度 (LTLS) 颗粒，并且通常被认为是无毒的，即使非常高且长期的吸入暴露可能导致疾病。在动物研究中，这种接触会导致癌症、纤维化和其他疾病。我们的假设是，在 SPION 制剂的制造和处理过程中，肺部与工作场所的接触可能有害。因此，我们对相关文献进行了系统回顾，以了解沉积在肺部的氧化铁与急性和亚慢性肺部炎症的关系。我们纳入了截至 2023 年 2 月发表的一项人类研究和几项体内动物研究。我们发现了 25 项相关研究，这些研究有助于根据炎症反应推导氧化铁的职业暴露限值 (OEL)。我们对科学文献的审查表明，可以考虑降低基于健康的职业暴露限值。

Inhalation exposure to iron oxide occurs in many workplaces and respirable aerosols occur during thermal processes (e.g. welding, casting) or during abrasion of iron and steel products (e.g. cutting, grinding, machining, polishing, sanding) or during handling of iron oxide pigments. There is limited evidence of adverse effects in humans specifically linked to inhalation of iron oxides. This contrasts to oxides of other metals used to alloy or for coating of steel and iron of which several have been classified as being hazardous by international and national agencies. Such metal oxides are often present in the air at workplaces. In general, iron oxides might therefore be regarded as low-toxicity, low-solubility (LTLS) particles, and are often considered to be nontoxic even if very high and prolonged inhalation exposures might result in diseases. In animal studies, such exposures lead to cancer, fibrosis and other diseases. Our hypothesis was that pulmonary-workplace exposure during manufacture and handling of SPION preparations might be harmful. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the relevant literature to understand how iron oxides deposited in the lung are related to acute and subchronic pulmonary inflammation. We included one human and several in vivo animal studies published up to February 2023. We found 25 relevant studies that were useful for deriving occupational exposure limits (OEL) for iron oxides based on an inflammatory reaction. Our review of the scientific literature indicates that lowering of health-based occupational exposure limits might be considered.