Lidwien A M Smit, José Jacobs, Frits van Rooy, Dick Heederik, Remko Houba, Lützen Portengen
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Occupational allergy to soluble chlorinated platinum (Pt) salts, also known as chloroplatinates, poses a serious health problem in precious metal refineries. We aimed to assess the exposure-response relationship between soluble Pt salts exposure and Pt salt sensitization (PSS) in a 16-yr retrospective cohort study (2000 to 2015).
Methods: We analyzed routinely collected data from 5 Pt refineries. In total, 1,614 newly hired workers who entered the industry since 2000 regularly underwent skin prick tests. Exposure to soluble Pt salts was modeled using 2,982 personal air samples. The relationship between time-varying exposure levels and PSS development was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for smoking, atopy, and facility.
Results: PSS was diagnosed in 117 workers (1.48 per 100 person-years of follow-up time) with median time to PSS of 1.9 yr, and with an estimated median exposure level of 53 ng/m3 (P5-P95: 8 to 302 ng/m3) at the time of PSS development. Statistically significant quantitative exposure-response relationships between PSS and cumulative and current exposure were found. Exposure-response curves showed a steep increase in PSS incidence at exposure levels up to 100 ng/m3, with no or only a slight further increase at higher levels.
Conclusions: We found a clear exposure-response relationship between soluble Pt salts exposure and PSS incidence among newly hired workers. Despite the limitations inherent to the retrospective study design, this cohort study contributes to the growing body of evidence that the widely adopted occupational exposure limit of 2,000 ng/m3 does not adequately prevent PSS and should be reevaluated.
期刊介绍:
About the Journal
Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?"
We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing:
the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures;
the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities;
populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers;
the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems;
policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities;
methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk.
There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.