Polish journal of occupational medicine and environmental health最新文献

Author presents his views on the past and present problems of public health. Special attention is given to the differences in public health goals of industrialized and developing countries.

Each of twelve volunteers, at 2 week intervals, received 1 g of antipyrine, a test drug, and were exposed for 4 h either to toluene (375 mg/m3) or xylene (435 mg/m3) singly or in combination with ethanol (0.45 g/kg body wt. before the onset of exposure and 0.15 g/kg thrice every 1 h during exposure to maintain a steady level of ethanol in blood approximately 11 mmol/dm3). No significant differences were found in salivary antipyrine half-life (T1/2 approximately 12 h); and clearance (ClAP approximately 0.83 cm3/s) between control and groups exposed to solvents and/or ethanol. Nevertheless, a tendency to increase the metabolic rate of antipyrine in xylene-exposed group (T1/2 approximately 6.8 h; ClAP approximately 1.40 cm3/s) and counteraction of ethanol (T1/2 approximately 15 h; ClAP approximately 0.63 cm3/s) should be noted. The stimulation of lipid peroxidation in the serum as a biological effect of combined exposure to ethanol and toluene/xylene was observed.

These studies were performed on 5, 10, 30, 60 and 540 days old female Wistar rats. The animals were treated i.p. with phenobarbital (50 mg/kg body weight) and benzene (250 mg/kg body weight). In smooth (SER) and rough (RER) hepatic microsomes, the mixed function oxidases activity were studied. The earlier phenobarbital induction decreased the negative benzene influence. In all examined animals this was observed for protein, cytochrome P-450, and demethylase 4-aminopyrine activities. A partial decrease of inhibition was noticed only for activities of NADPH-cytochrome bs and NADH-cytochrome bs reductase activities, phenobarbital did not significantly change the effect of benzene.

The level of nickel in a full-day diet, drinking water and complementary liquids was measured in groups of persons occupationally and environmentally exposed to this element. Both adults and children (in preschool and school age) living in industrial and recreation areas were considered. Concentrations of nickel in the occupational and ambient air were also taken into account. Measurement data were used for calculating the intake and uptake of nickel in the investigated groups. It was found that contaminated air at workplaces under occupational exposure, and food under environmental exposure were the main sources of the nickel intake.

Ludwik Rajchman was a man caught up in the whirlwind of international politics. He suffered from the conquest of his country, Poland, by both Nazism and Communism yet managed to rise to eminence as a leader of the Health Organisation of the League of Nations and then of UNICEF.

The Salmonella mutagenicity test was applied to the evaluation of mutagenic activity of Wroclaw drinking water. Contaminants of water samples were concentrated by adsorption on XAD-2 resin. After while they were eluted sequentially with acetone, dichloromethane/methanol (1:1, v/v) and methanol, and then obtained organic extracts were evaporated to dryness. The extracts were then dissolved in DMSO and examined by using the Ames test. The results proved significant contamination of drinking water with mutagenic substances. Hydroxyapatite column chromatography performed after direct incubation of standard DNA probes with tested water extracts showed that drinking water was contaminated with DNA interstrand cross-linking substances. Filtration of tap water through carbon filters markedly reduced mutagenic activity of tested water extracts, whereas ceramic filters were more efficient in depleting of DNA interstrand cross-linking contaminants.

The authors present the results of analysis of data on occupational diseases in Poland during the years 1984-1992. The statistical material covers 86,871 cases of various diseases. Among them hearing lesions, vocal organ diseases, contagious and invasive diseases, pneumoconioses, dermatoses, vibration syndrome, poisonings and chronic bronchitis proved to be most common. In Poland, among the etiological factors, noise, industrial dusts, hepatitis virus, chromium and its compounds, lead and its inorganic compounds, carbon disulphide and carbon monoxide pose the highest risk. Apart from the statistics concerning the number of cases of occupational diseases according to sex, age, exposure duration, national economy branches and regions (voivodeships), the article presents, for the first time, some consequences of occupational diseases, such as granting disability pensions and/or indemnity depending on the per cent of health impairment.

Industrial use of induction heaters generating electromagnetic energy of frequencies below 9 kHz makes an exposure of their operators to magnetic field H of high intensity and to electric field E of relatively low intensity. The operators of such heaters have suffered repeatedly from infections in the upper respiratory tract and in the skin of the forearm. The experimental exposure of rats to E or H fields of frequencies of 10 Hz, 50 Hz or 1-45 kHz induced changes in growth rate of exposed animals and weight changes in the pituitary-adrenal glands. These results support the suggestion about the involvement of the endocrine system in the biological reaction to incident electromagnetic fields of VLF and ELF.

The aim of this investigation was to quantify the carcinogenic and mutagenic activity of antigorite occurring in the form of admixtures in different mineral raw materials (serpentinite, magnesite, dolomite and nickel ore). The carcinogenicity of dusts was evaluated after intraperitoneal injections of 5 mg (mice) or 20 mg (rats) of dust suspended in saline. A pathomorphological examination was performed in all the dead animals. For two raw materials--serpentinite and nickel ore--their mutagenic potency was investigated (SCE test was used in this study). Results obtained in the experiments on animals (rats and mice) showed that the biological aggressiveness of the mineral raw materials tested was associated with the content of antigorite fibres. Particularly the frequency of mesothelioma (5-85%) was related to the number of antigorite fibres longer than 5 microns. Both of the investigated raw materials (serpentinite and nickel ore) were mutagenic in the SCE test.