Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene最新文献

Accurately estimating exposure is critical to assessing the potential health risks of chemicals. Characterizing dermal exposures to semivolatile or nonvolatile compounds in occupational studies can be challenging because of a lack of standardized procedures for dermal wipe sample collection and methods for sample analysis for most industrial chemicals, especially organic compounds. Methodologies are sometimes available in the scientific literature; however, the approaches vary, typically have not been validated, and may not be suitable for application in commercial laboratory settings. This article describes the laboratory development and validation of a method to identify and quantify the semivolatile organic compounds, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA, CAS: 79-94-7) and triphenyl phosphate (TPP, CAS: 115-86-6) in dermal wipe samples and to validate recovery of these chemicals from porcine skin. The analytical method involved extraction of the test compounds on two different wipe media (cotton and polyester-rayon blend) in 100% isopropanol using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results indicate that polyester-rayon wipes were preferable to cotton wipes. Additionally, the dermal wipe sampling method was tested and validated using porcine skin as a surrogate for human skin. This study provides a framework to perform validation of analytical and dermal sample collection methods for other semivolatile and nonvolatile chemicals and provides a baseline method for the development of commercial laboratory methods to evaluate exposure to other chemicals.

Central Sterilization Unit (CSU) workers are exposed to various biological, chemical, physical, and psychological hazards. This study aimed to assess the occupational health and safety (OHS) awareness of workers in the CSU. This cross-sectional study included 83 employees working in CSUs affiliated with 32 public, private, and university hospitals in Kayseri. Participants' demographic characteristics, working conditions, and information related to occupational health and safety were collected through a questionnaire. A total of 71 individuals participated in the study. According to the research findings, the majority of the workers had received training on the operation of sterilization units and OHS. CSU workers reported facing issues such as injuries from sharp objects (57.7%), exposure to toxic/corrosive substances (46.5%), and contact with bloodborne pathogens (26.8%). Although the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was widespread, the utilization rates of certain equipment were lower. The study highlights that CSU workers are exposed to various health risks and emphasizes the importance of education and the use of PPE. However, considering the limitations of the study, it is suggested that more comprehensive research and greater attention to OHS among healthcare personnel are needed.

Laser photometers provide real-time data on airborne aerosols. They are a valuable tool for assessing task exposures, as well as process and environmental changes. However, their performance compared to the validated National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) method Particulates Not Otherwise Regulated, Respirable 0600 gravitational method is uncertain. NIOSH has established a criterion for sampling and analytical methods to be within 25% of the 'true' concentration. Manufacturers and research scientists cite the importance of using an aerosol-specific calibration factor to improve instrument correlation with the gravimetric method. Field data from three photometers are presented to illustrate instrument performance variability and evaluate single and averaged aerosol-specific calibration factors. Respirable particulate and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) were simultaneously measured ten times in an operating rock crushing facility using the NIOSH methods 0600 and 7500 Silica, Crystalline, by XRD (filter redeposition) and three factory calibrated photometers. Ten aerosol-specific calibration factors were calculated for each photometer and used to determine single and averaged aerosol-specific calibration factors. Single and averaged aerosol-specific calibration factors were mathematically applied to "correct" the factory calibrated instrument measurements. Performance was evaluated using absolute relative error. With the factory calibration, the average absolute relative error for each instrument exceeded 25%. A single-event aerosol-specific calibration factor reduced the average absolute relative error for all instruments, bringing it below 25% for one of the three photometers. A 3-run average aerosol-specific calibration factor reduced the average absolute relative error below 25% for all instruments. Further averaging of calibration factor provided no significant advantage. The 95th percentile of absolute error fell below 25% for one of the tested instruments when applying both a single and averaged calibration factor but remained above 25% for the other two instruments. Field testing of the single-run, three-run average and ten-run average calibration factors revealed that the absolute relative error exceeded 25% in at least one of the three CF-field tests for each instrument. The average absolute relative error in estimates of RCS varied from 7 to 38%.

In US coal mines, the continuous personal dust monitor (CPDM) is frequently used to determine miners' exposure to respirable dust. Capabilities to analyze the respirable crystalline silica (RCS) content of that dust are needed, but the CPDM sample collection substrate ("stub") interferes with direct analysis. To overcome this challenge, a three-step method is proposed to recover the dust from the stub, deposit the dust on a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) filter, and analyze the recovered dust by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine the quartz content (as a proxy for RCS). Recent work has established procedures for the latter two steps using representative dust samples suspended in isopropyl alcohol (IPA). That work is extended in the current study to also address the dust recovery step, testing both IPA and deionized water (H₂O) as recovery liquids. Here, blank CPDM stubs were subjected to the entire three-step method and results were used to establish a quartz mass correction for residue that is recovered from the stub itself. Then, the method and correction were applied to lab-spiked and field CPDM stubs. For spiked samples, predicted and expected quartz mass values were highly correlated (R² values >0.97 regardless of recovery liquid or application of the blank CPDM-stub correction); though predicted values were consistently lower than expected values (regression line slopes between 0.84 and 0.86), which might be related to effects of total recovered sample mass on the deposition pattern achieved on PVC filter. For the field samples, IPA proved to be a much more efficient recovery liquid than H₂O. Unfortunately, the evaluation of the predicted quartz mass results on the field samples was confounded by apparent issues with reference filter samples intended to determine expected values.

Differences in escape respirator design can influence the wearer's ventilatory response and impact inspired oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. There has been minimal investigation into the differences between hood and mask designs as escape respirators that compare between the ventilatory responses of wearing either a hood or mask escape respirator with an identical nose-cup. Thirty-nine healthy young males participated in the study. Each subject participated in two 20-min sessions of monitored breathing, wearing either a hood-type filtering facepiece respirator "CAPS 2000" (Shalon Chemical Industries, Israel & Supergum Industries Ltd, Israel) or an "Orange Diamond" filtering facepiece mask-type escape respirator (DEA Mop, Israel). Inspired gas concentrations of CO₂ and O₂ as well as the ventilatory response were recorded through a nose-cup during the test. Inspired CO₂, minute ventilation, breathing frequency, and the index of central ventilatory drive (V_T/T_I) were all significantly higher (p < 0.05) while wearing a mask respirator compared to a hood respirator. The hood respirator evaluated in the present study outperformed the mask respirator in most indices when measured at rest. The hood respirator had a reduced ventilatory demand compared to the mask respirator and may be advantageous for individuals with weaker respiratory systems, such as the elderly or those who suffer from respiratory diseases.

Developing and overseeing Respiratory Protection Programs (RPPs) is crucial for ensuring effective respirator use among employees. To date, a gap exists in research that focuses on elastomeric half mask respirators (EHMRs) as the primary respirator in health delivery settings which would necessitate additional considerations in RPPs beyond the more common N95 filtering facepiece respirators. This paper presents lessons learned during a one-year impact evaluation with healthcare and first responder settings that received EHMRs from the Strategic National Stockpile in 2021 and 2022. The study explored the advantages and disadvantages associated with EHMRs and the challenges related to establishing, implementing, maintaining, and sustaining EHMR-based RPPs. Data was received from 42 organizations that participated in EHMR demonstration projects to address (1) the most important, perceived, elements and practices of an EHMR-based RPP to support a long-term program; and (2) differences in perceptions of the most important elements and practices based on organizational and company size (i.e., small, medium, and large). Sustaining an EHMR program was considered the most important area to focus future efforts (M = 2.94; SD = 1.12 on a 4-point scale), followed by daily maintenance of the program (M = 2.72; SD = 0.974), development and implementation of the program (M = 2.42; SD = 1.05), and access to EHMRs (M = 1.91; SD = 1.11), respectively. Findings also revealed statistically significant differences in perceptions based on organization size, particularly in access to EHMR models/designs. Results underscored the significance of user accountability, organizational support, and culture in EHMR-based RPPs to support emergency preparedness efforts.

Landscapers are exposed to noise, carbon monoxide (CO), respirable dust, and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) generated from the tools they use. Although engineering controls are available to reduce these exposures, no previous study has evaluated chronic exposures to landscapers in different work settings and compared exposures from landscaping tools with and without engineering controls. This field study of workers in the landscaping services industry documented the occupational exposures of 80 participants at 11 varied worksites to noise, CO, respirable dust, and RCS using personal breathing zone sampling. Results were analyzed using SAS/STAT 14.1. Analysis of variance was used for normally distributed data; otherwise, nonparametric methods were used. Most workers were overexposed to noise, with 94 of the 119 8-hr time-weighted average (TWA) noise exposures at or above the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) of 85 dBA. There were no statistically significant differences among different locations or occupations. No 8-hr TWA exposures to CO above the NIOSH REL were measured. Overexposures to RCS were measured at all locations where hardscaping (installing or maintaining non-living aspects of the landscape) was taking place. This is the first known field study of this type to include hardscapers. The use of engineering controls such as dust capture or wet methods would reduce RCS exposures, but respiratory protection may still be needed. Task-based analysis of noise and CO exposure revealed that the loudest landscaping tools used in this study were hardscaping table saws, gas chainsaws, gas leaf blowers, chipper/shredders, gas string trimmers, and fuel mowers. Workers were exposed to significantly more noise and CO when using fuel-powered versions compared to battery-powered versions of leaf blowers, string trimmers, and chainsaws.

Hexavalent chromium (CrVI) is known to cause lung cancer among workers exposed to high concentrations in certain historical industries. It is also a toxic air contaminant considered to pose a potentially significant cancer risk at comparatively low concentrations in urban air. However, very limited data currently exist to quantify risk at low-concentration occupational or environmental exposures. This study reconstructs individual-level exposures using a job-exposure matrix (JEM) and examines mortality among 3,723 CrVI-exposed aircraft manufacturing workers, including 440 women with long-term low-level CrVI exposures and long-term follow-up. The JEM used Bayesian methods with industrial hygiene data to calculate cumulative worker exposures from 1960 to 1998. A retrospective cohort mortality study was also conducted to calculate standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) by population demographics and to conduct an internally referenced dose-response analysis. CrVI-exposed painters, electroplaters, and aircraft assembly workers, with 1 to 37 years of exposure (median: 8 years) had mean and median cumulative exposures of 16 µg/m³-yrs and 2.9 µg/m³-yrs, respectively. Based on 1,758 observed deaths, mortality from cancer overall (SMR 1.24; 95% CI 1.13-1.36), smoking-related cancers (SMR 1.31; 95% CI 1.15-1.49), and lung cancer (SMR 1.39; 95% CI 1.17-1.63) were significantly elevated and more highly elevated among women (lung cancer SMR 2.61; 95% CI:1.66-3.92). Internal analyses revealed no dose-response relationship between cumulative exposure and lung cancer mortality. Data available for 12% of CrVI-exposed workers showed smoking prevalence higher than general population norms, especially for women. The absence of a dose-response relationship with cumulative exposure suggests that elevated cancer risks are primarily smoking-related in this cohort, and possibly as a consequence, any increased risk associated with CrVI exposure is not observable. Although an association between lung cancer risk and CrVI exposure was not found, this study provides significant new observations in the low exposure range, and among women, which may be useful for quantitative risk assessment.

Software-driven wearable technologies are emerging as a control for heat-related illnesses. Such devices collect biometric data and estimate risk noninvasively. However, little is known about workplace implementation strategies and stakeholder acceptance of the devices. As part of a mixed-methods pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of wearable technologies, the authors invited six agricultural workers with no device experience to participate in a semi-structured focus group, after wearing two devices (e.g., MākuSafe, Des Moines, IA, United States; SlateSafety, V2, Atlanta, GA, United States) for a standard work week. The focus group was separated into two parts: the first assessed the overall understanding of heat stress, and the second captured workers' perceptions of the wearable technologies. For each topic, the authors extracted relevant themes that describe farm workers' general understanding of heat hazards and worker interaction with wearable technology used in heat-related risk. These themes provide relevant answers to the questions outlined in the semi-structured questionnaire that can guide future research into the use of these devices in occupational settings. Wearable technologies continue to be used to control heat-related illnesses. Therefore, it is critically important to gather key strategies for employer implementation and user-interface considerations.