Polish journal of occupational medicine and environmental health最新文献

The long term carcinogenicity of clinoptilolite was examined in Wistar rats. Respirable clinoptilolite was given intratracheally in doses 0, 30, or 60 mg/animal to groups of 60 or 50 male and 50 female rats on one occasion. No significant dose-related increase was found in the incidence of tumours in any organ or tissue. The results indicated that clinoptilolite type zeolite had no carcinogenic activity in Wistar rats.

The present-day legal regulations on workers' health care are far from satisfactory. The work on the modification of the occupational health service has been carried out for the last two years although the preparatory activities started much earlier. In May 1991, under the initiative of the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Lodz, the bill on the Labor Code has been amended so that it would regulate the employer's responsibilities with respect to providing health care for workers and to participating in respective costs. These activities have overrun the more general ones pertaining to the reform of the national health service in Poland. Under conditions of the growing free market economy the previously operated organizational system of health care for workers has become out-of-date and needs immediate modification to adjust it to the new economic situation. Evidently, the trends and rate of the policy in this respect have been considerably influenced by the more general activities to make Poland associated with the European Community and hence to develop an occupational health care system which would take into consideration the principles of the Charter of Social Rights of the EEC as well as of the ILO Conventions.

Oxidative damage to DNA has been suggested to contribute to a number of diseases including cancer. In order to study the relationship between oxidative damage to DNA and occupational exposures, urinary excretion of the oxidative DNA adduct, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), was determined in asbestos workers, rubber workers, azo-dye workers and controls. Levels of 8-OHdG in urinary samples were quantified by automated coupled-column high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC). The registered 8-OHdG levels were 1.40 +/- 0.56 mumol/mol creatinine in asbestos workers, 1.48 +/- 0.57 in rubber workers, 1.92 +/- 0.85 in azo-dye workers and 1.07 +/- 0.41 in controls (means +/- SD). Thus, 8-OHdG levels appeared to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in each of the exposed groups than in the control group. Regression analysis revealed no important association between 8-OHdG excretion, age and smoking. These findings suggest that occupational exposures may contribute to an increased oxidative damage to human DNA and point to the possible use of urinary 8-OHdG assays in biomonitoring of biological effects of chemicals in selected industrial workplaces.

Investigations of environmental exposure to lead were performed in 1028 children from a very polluted industrial region affected by emissions from the lead mine and smelter plant "Orzeł Biały". A group of 629 children was used as the reference population from non-polluted parts of Poland. The lead blood concentrations in exposed groups of children were considerably higher than in the reference group and 26% of younger children and 11% of older children exceeded the safe limit value of 20 micrograms/dl. Children with the highest health risk in which Pb-B amounted to 40-50 micrograms/dl (4.2% of exposed children) were recommended for immediate medical examination. As preventive measures, improvement of hygienic life conditions and frequent trips of exposed children to non-polluted areas, were recommended which should decrease the internal lead dose.

A critical analysis of the present situation with respect to hygienic standard setting is presented. The authors introduce requirements for developing scientifically based exposure limits for chemicals as well as differences between documentation of recommended exposure limits for the agents occurring in the working environment and in the communal environmental medicine.

The paper presents the history of hygienic standards setting in various countries, as well as the current situation in this respect. Methodological approaches to hygienic standards setting in the USA and USSR have been analysed and compared. The paper shows also the contribution of international organizations to unification of both the definition and the approach to MAC setting. The authors present systems of MAC setting in such countries as USA (ACGIH, NIOSH, OSHA), former USSR, Germany, Scandinavian countries, Hungary and Poland. The paper comprises also classification of substances and carcinogenic agents adopted by IARC as well as the classifications in those countries which publish lists of carcinogens.