Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene最新文献

{"title":"Association between occupational noise exposure level and pure-tone audiometry abnormalities among Metropolitan Manila Development Authority employees: A cross-sectional study.","authors":"Kimberly Mae C Ong, Charlotte M Chiong, Maria Rina T Reyes-Quintos, Romeo Gian Vincent M Urgel, Emmanuel P Estrella, Olivia T Sison, Emmanuel S Baja","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2315164","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2315164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traffic enforcers are exposed to various occupational health and safety hazards, including noise pollution, which may lead to occupational hearing loss. This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of hearing loss and to assess the relationship between occupational noise exposure level (ONEL) and abnormalities in air conduction thresholds among Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) employees along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, Philippines. Eight-hour ONELs were measured among 108 participants working with greater than 5 years of service. Participants had hearing evaluations using pure tone audiometry (PTA) to calculate the prevalence of hearing loss. Generalized linear models with a Poisson distribution were fitted to estimate the association between ONEL and audiologic abnormalities, controlling for confounding factors. Approximately 16% of employees had hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss was higher with ONEL exposures greater than 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA), with traffic enforcers exposed to higher ONELs than office workers. ONELs greater than 85 dBA were related to audiologic abnormalities at different frequencies in PTA. The prevalence of audiologic abnormalities at 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz was 48% higher (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 1.48; 95% CI, 1.12-1.96) and 25% higher (aPR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.00-1.55), respectively, among participants with ONELs greater than 85 dBA than with ONELs less than or equal to 85 dBA. Participants exposed to ONELs greater than 85 dBA, more likely traffic enforcers, may have increased risk of audiologic abnormalities. Regular ONEL monitoring is warranted for occupational risk assessment of traffic enforcers. A hearing conservation program may need to be considered for this population. Additional studies are needed to determine trends in hearing deterioration among traffic enforcers.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"342-352"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140136922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"The Action Level^®\".","authors":"J Thomas Pierce","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2356485","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2356485","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"D11-D12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating workplace protection factors (WPFs) of different firefighter PPE interface control measures for select volatile organic compounds (VOCs).","authors":"M Christina Kander, Alexander C Mayer, Andrea F Wilkinson, Stephen Bertke, Richard M Kesler, Denise L Smith, Gavin P Horn, Kenneth W Fent","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2323109","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2323109","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Structural firefighters are exposed to a complex set of contaminants and combustion byproducts, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Additionally, recent studies have found structural firefighters' skin may be exposed to multiple chemical compounds via permeation or penetration of chemical byproducts through or around personal protective equipment (PPE). This mannequin-based study evaluated the effectiveness of four different PPE conditions with varying contamination control measures (incorporating PPE interface design features and particulate blocking materials) to protect against ingress of several VOCs in a smoke exposure chamber. We also investigated the effectiveness of long-sleeve base layer clothing to provide additional protection against skin contamination. Outside gear air concentrations were measured from within the smoke exposure chamber at the breathing zone, abdomen, and thigh heights. Personal air concentrations were collected from mannequins under PPE at the same general heights and under the base layer at abdomen and thigh heights. Sampled contaminants included benzene, toluene, styrene, and naphthalene. Results suggest that VOCs can readily penetrate the ensembles. Workplace protection factors (WPFs) were near one for benzene and toluene and increased with increasing molecular weight of the contaminants. WPFs were generally lower under hoods and jackets compared to under pants. For all PPE conditions, the pants appeared to provide the greatest overall protection against ingress of VOCs, but this may be due in part to the lower air concentrations toward the floor (and cuffs of pants) relative to the thigh-height outside gear concentrations used in calculating the WPFs. Providing added interface control measures and adding particulate-blocking materials appeared to provide a protective benefit against less-volatile chemicals, like naphthalene and styrene.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"353-364"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11073914/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140336009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diagnostic accuracy of thermal, hydration, and heart rate assessments in discriminating positive acute kidney injury risk following physical work in the heat.","authors":"Christopher L Chapman, Blair D Johnson, David P Hostler, Zachary J Schlader","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2315161","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2315161","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Occupational heat stress increases the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI). This study presents a secondary analysis to generate novel hypotheses for future studies by investigating the diagnostic accuracy of thermal, hydration, and heart rate assessments in discriminating positive AKI risk following physical work in the heat in unacclimatized individuals. Unacclimatized participants (<i>n</i> = 13, 3 women, age: ∼23 years) completed four trials involving 2 h of exercise in a 39.7 ± 0.6 °C, 32 ± 3% relative humidity environment that differed by experimental manipulation of hyperthermia (i.e., cooling intervention) and dehydration (i.e., water drinking). Diagnostic accuracy was assessed via receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Positive AKI risk was identified when the product of concentrations insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 [IGFBP7∙TIMP-2] exceeded 0.3 (ng∙mL^-1)²∙1000^-1. Peak absolute core temperature had the acceptable discriminatory ability (AUC = 0.71, <i>p</i> = 0.009), but a relatively large variance (AUC 95% CI: 0.57-0.86). Mean body temperature, urine specific gravity, urine osmolality, peak heart rate, and the peak percent of both maximum heart rate and heart rate reserve had poor discrimination (AUC = 0.66-0.69, <i>p</i> ≤ 0.051). Mean skin temperature, percent change in body mass and plasma volume, and serum sodium and osmolality had no discrimination (<i>p</i> ≥ 0.072). A peak increase in mean skin temperature of >4.7 °C had a positive likelihood ratio of 11.0 which suggests clinical significance. These data suggest that the absolute value of peak core temperature and the increase in mean skin temperature may be valuable to pursue in future studies as a biomarker for AKI risk in unacclimatized workers.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"326-341"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140184661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimating airborne trichloramine levels in indoor swimming pools using the well-mixed box model.","authors":"Elham Ahmadpour, Maximilien Debia","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2327370","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2327370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exposure to airborne disinfection by-products, especially trichloramine (TCA), could cause various occupational health effects in indoor swimming pools. However, TCA concentration measurements involve specialized analysis conducted in specific laboratories, which can result in significant costs and time constraints. As an alternative, modeling techniques for estimating exposures are promising in addressing these challenges. This study aims to predict airborne TCA concentrations in indoor swimming pools using a mathematical model, the well-mixed box model, found in the IHMOD tool, freely available on the American Industrial Hygiene Association website. The model's predictions are compared with TCA concentrations measured during various bather load scenarios. The research involved conducting 2-hr successive workplace measurements over 16- to 18-hr periods in four indoor swimming pools in Quebec, Canada. TCA concentrations were estimated using the well-mixed box model, assuming a homogeneous mixing of air within the swimming pool environment. A novel approach was developed to estimate the TCA generation rate from swimming pool water, incorporating the number of swimmers in the model. Average measured concentrations of TCA were 0.24, 0.26, 0.14, and 0.34 mg/m³ for swimming pools 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The ratio of these measured average concentrations to their corresponding predicted values ranged from 0.51 to 1.30, 0.67 to 1.04, 0.57 to 1.14, and 0.68 to 1.49 for the respective swimming pools. In a worst-case scenario simulating the swimming pool at full capacity (maximum bathers allowed), TCA concentrations were estimated as 0.23, 0.36, 0.14, and 0.37 mg/m³ for swimming pools 1, 2, 3, and 4. Recalculated concentrations by adjusting the number of swimmers so as not to exceed the recommended occupational limit concentration of 0.35 mg/m³ gives a maximum number of swimmers of 63 and 335 instead of currently 80 and 424 for swimming pools 2 and 4, respectively. Similarly, for swimming pools 1 and 3, the maximum number of swimmers could be 173 and 398 (instead of the current 160 and 225, respectively). These results demonstrated that the model could be used to estimate and anticipate airborne TCA levels in indoor swimming pools across various scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"397-408"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140853574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“The Action Level®”","authors":"Edited by J. Thomas Pierce , PhD, CIH (1980–2012), DABT (Retired)","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2346066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2346066","url":null,"abstract":"Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (Ahead of Print, 2024)","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"176 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140811342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Occupational exposures to asbestos in the steel industry: An analysis of the AISI sampling campaign (1989–1997)","authors":"Michael E. Stevens, David W. Brew, Dennis J. Paustenbach","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2328804","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2328804","url":null,"abstract":"The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) gathered data between 1989 and 1997 to build an “objective database” to further understand the occupational exposures generated by the few asbestos-cont...","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"97 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140599909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“The Action Level®”","authors":"Edited by J. Thomas Pierce , PhD, CIH (1980–2012), DABT (Retired)","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2340357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2340357","url":null,"abstract":"Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (Vol. 21, No. 4, 2024)","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140600186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of nanoparticles in bleed air in the etiology of Aerotoxic Syndrome: A review of cabin air-quality studies of 2003–2023","authors":"G. Hageman, P. van Broekhuizen, J. Nihom","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2327348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2327348","url":null,"abstract":"Aerotoxic Syndrome may develop as a result of chronic, low-level exposure to organophosphates (OPs) and volatile organic compounds in the airplane cabin air, caused by engine oil leaking past wet s...","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"65 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140599731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determinants of discomfort from combined exposure to noise and vibration in dumper operators of mining industry in India","authors":"Sarang V. Dhatrak, Immad A. Shah, Shivkumar S. Prajapati","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2024.2328296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2328296","url":null,"abstract":"In the mining industry, dumper operators are exposed to combined noise and vibration, leading to discomfort. Dumpers are heavy earth-moving machines that are used for carrying bulky material in min...","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"94 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140600190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}