Organic solvents as chemical risk factors of the work environment in different branches of industry and possible impact of solvents on workers' health (original) (raw)
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Behavioural evaluation of workers exposed to mixtures of organic solvents
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1985
Reports from Scandinavia have suggested behavioural impairment among long term workers exposed to solvents below regulatory standards. A cross sectional study of behavioural performance was conducted among printers and spray painters exposed to mixtures of organic solvents to replicate the Scandinavian studies and to examine dose-response relationships. Eligible subjects consisted of 640 hourly workers from four midwestern United States companies. Of these, 269 responded to requests to participate and 240 were selected for study based on restrictions for age, sex, education, and other potentially confounding variables. The subjects tested had been employed on average for six years. Each subject completed an occupational history, underwent a medical examination, and completed a battery of behavioural tests. These included the Fitts law psychomotor task, the Stroop colour-word test, the Stemnberg short term memory scanning test, the short term memory span test, and the continuous recognition memory test. Solvent exposure for each subject was defined as (1) an exposed or non-exposed category based on a plant industrial hygiene walk-through and (2) the concentration of solvents based on an analysis of full shift personal air samples by gas chromatography. The first definition was used to maintain consistency with Scandinavian -studies, but the second was considered to be more accurate. The average full shift solvent concentration was 302 ppm for the printing plant workers and 6-13 ppm for the workers at other plants. Isopropanol and hexane were the major components, compared with toluene in Scandinavian studies. Performance on behavioural tests was analysed using multiple linear regression with solvent concentration as an independent variable. Other relevant demographic variables were also considered for inclusion. No significant (p > 0.05) relation between solvent concentration and impairment on any of the 10 behavioural variables was observed after controlling for confounding variables. Exposed/non-exposed comparisons showed a significantly poorer digit span among those exposed, but this has not been generally reported in the Scandinavian studies. The medical examination showed no abnormalities of clinical significance. The inability to replicate the findings of the Scandinavian studies could have been due to the shortness of the duration of workers' exposure, the type of solvents in the mixtures, use of different behavioural tests, or to selection factors. The central nervous system is the primary target after short term, high level exposure. At low levels organ for inhaled organic solvent vapours and an of exposure, evidence of frank neurotoxicity may be impairment of central nervous system function and preceded by subtle, subclinical changes in behaviour neuraesthenic symptoms are commonly reported or psychological function.' 2 Since the 1970s a substantial effort has been *Present address: Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, devoted to evaluating subclinical behavioural
Use of organic solvents and potential worker exposure in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1993
This survey was designed to assist with planning epidemiologic studies of the effects of solvent exposure among motor vehicle manufacturing workers. The objectives were to identify subgroups of workers with solvent exposure, and to evaluate the availability of data for a job-exposure matrix (JEM). Of 65 plants selected, 31 (48%) participated. Participant plants represent all production activities initially included in the survey, and employ 97,655 hourly workers. About 14% of these workers use organic solvents (direct exposure), and 19% work in the proximity of solvent-using operations (indirect exposure). However, only 3% have direct exposure, and 6% have indirect exposure to large-volume (2 100 gallons/month)/high-frequency (hourly)-use solvents. The highest solvent exposure prevalence occurs in plants manufacturing engines and power train components and in metal degreasingicleaning and painting tasks, and entails exposure to petroleum fractions, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, and ketones. A JEM can be developed using plant records on job titles, work histories, production scheduling, and plant engineering, and using the corporate computerized personnel and industrial hygiene databases. However, information on solvent use and on exposure is adequate only for recent time periods.
A meta-analysis of mortality among workers exposed to organic solvents
It has been suggested that organic solvent exposure may contribute to an increased risk of blood disorders, neurological, liver and renal disease, and cancer. A meta-analysis has been performed of 55 published mortality studies which involved solvent exposure and provided standardised mortality ratios (SMR) or relative risk (RR). The combined results showed the overall SMR to be 86.7 (95% confidence interval [Cl] = 83.7-89.9), while that for all sites of cancer was 92.3 (Cl = 87.5-97.4). Risk of death from leukaemia was increased (SMR = 112.2, Cl = 101.6-146.9) as was that from cancer of liver and biliary passages (SMR = 119.7, Cl = 104.4-137.2), even though the risk of death from cirrhosis was reduced (SMR = 81.5, Cl = 68.1-97.4). No excess risk of death from other diseases has been found. The favourable mortality might be from a 'healthy worker effect', but the increase in death from liver cancer in the absence of excess deaths from cirrhosis is biologically plausible and justifies further investigation. The increase in mortality from leukaemia is likely to have been associated with exposure to benzene.
Solvents Measurement and Influence on health in the Work Environment in Manufacturing
Materials Science, 2015
The composition of chemical mixtures in the work environment depends mostly on the temperature of the air or the processing temperature of the raw material or the intermediate products. To determine the chemicals in the air FTIR/FT-NIR spectrometer Interspec 301-X with open optical path and Dräger tubes were used. The toxicology of the gaseous components was determined on the basis of the scientific literature. Resulting from these investigations and the legislation on the chemicals safety (exposure limits) the health risk assessment model (HRA) was worked out. This model connects the hazards in the work environment and the health risk to the workers and enables the possibility to the medical personnel to determine the frequency of the medical examinations and biomonitoring for the workers continuously working in the hazardous conditions. The novelty of the study lies in the possibility to keep the chemicals concentration in the work environment air under control through the use of the HRA model and the measurement with modern measurement equipment (FTIR/FT-NIR).
Exposure to Organic Solvents among Handicraft Car Painters: A Pilot Study in Italy
Industrial Health, 2006
Car repair painters usually experience long-term exposure to many different solvents. In Italy, the greater part of car painting shops are "handicraft", i.e. 2-5 workers and small premises. Usually workers do not have specific duties, but everyone takes part in all different operations. Moreover, working time is not standardized but varies according to the workload, working methods tend to be traditional, and compliance to individual protection devices is poor. We have hence assessed, on a sample of 8 italian handicraft car painting shops, the exposure levels to solvents, implementing three classic exposure monitoring methods: environmental sampling with charcoal tubes, personal sampling with diffusive charcoal samplers, and urinary determination of unmetabolised solvents. A simple regression analysis was performed to evaluate relationships between the three series of data. The solvents analysed were toluene, ethylbenzene, 1, 2-dichloropropane, n-butylacetate, n-amylacetate, xylene isomers, ethylacetate, and benzene. Benzene was included due to several factors, among others its presence (1% v/v) in the italian unleaded gasoline. Benzene was found in all shops, at levels around or higher than the 8-h timeweighted average limit (8-h TLV-TWA). Other solvents were found in the different shops at various levels, 10 2-10 1 times the 8-h TLV-TWA. Air concentrations of toluene, n-butylacetate, xylenes, and benzene were positively correlated with urinary levels of the parent compounds, while a negative correlation was found for ethylbenzene. The health implications of workers' exposure level was briefly discussed.
Long-term follow up of workers exposed to solvents
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1990
Long term occupational exposure to organic solvents may cause adverse effects to the central nervous system. This collaborative study between six Swedish departments of occupational medicine examines the overall prognosis in terms of working capacity, symptoms, and psychometric test performance for individuals occupationally exposed to organic solvents. After re-analyses of the data from an initial clinical investigation of 111 men, the subjects were divided into two subgroups: one group of65 with symptoms but no impairment on the tests and one group of 46 with toxic encephalopathy (symptoms and test impairment). At least five years after the initial examination the subjects were asked to attend a re-examination that included a structured medical interview and a psychometric investigation. The results indicate that effects on the central nervous system persist even when exposure has ceased. In the group of 46 more men had stopped working and were receiving sickness or early retirement pensions. This group also had reduced activity levels with regard to everyday life, leisure activities, and education or training and more neuropsychiatric symptoms. There was no support for the view that a solvent induced toxic encephalopathy is a progressive disease comparable with presenile dementia such as Alzheimer's disease or Pick's disease. If a worker was removed from exposure when he presented symptoms without signs of impair
Respiratory Manifestations in Workers Occupationally Exposed to Organic Solvents
2013
Organic solvents (OS) are chemicals used in variety of industries. Hazardous effect of OS on respiratory system is a known risk in occupationally exposed workers. The study aimed at determination of the impact of exposure to OS on respiratory system and pulmonary function tests in two different occupations. The studied population consisted of three groups; the first group is paint manufacturers in one of the largest factories in greater Cairo. The second is a group of pharmacists working in research center laboratories and handling solvents nearly similar to those used by the first group. The third is the control group who are engaged mainly in administrative tasks. All subjects had undergone history taking stressing on lower respiratory symptoms. Full medical examination of the respiratory system was carried out for the three groups. Pulmonary function testing (PFT) included measurement of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flo...
Harmful Chemicals in the Work Environment
Quality of Life (Banja Luka) - APEIRON, 2020
For hospital personnel, a number of harmful chemicals exist. The paper deal with very different harmful chemicals, but all chemicals are important and continuing problems where the risks to health, if uncontrolled, are serious. In the research was used descriptive statistical operations and multivariate statistical method, factor analysis (FA), i.e. principal component analysis (PCA). An analysis of 24 organic and inorganic parameters was performed. Results of the correlation analysis suggest that these pollutants pairs might have similar sources or have been affected by similar factors. PCA she confirmed that the mutually correlated elements constitute a group of elements with a similar origin.
La Medicina del lavoro
The study was conducted to estimate the prevalences of neurological disorders and mucous membrane irritation complaints among workers of shoe workshops in Hebron City, in particular to measure the associations between the occurrence of symptoms indicating polyneuropathy among workers and exposure to organic solvents in the glueing tasks. A group of 103 male workers from 30 workshops, exposed to organic solvents for more than one year were recruited to the study during the years 1996-1997. A validated Swedish neuropsychiatric questionnaire which contained questions on neurological and mucous irritation symptoms was used. Prevalence ratios were used as an indicator for relative risk. The overall prevalence of painful tingling of limbs (used as indicator of polyneuropathy) was high among the workshop workers (40%) and was significantly associated with long term exposure to organic solvents in glueing tasks (PR 2.8: 95% CI 1.0-8.3). Moderate associations were seen in other tasks. Headac...