Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene最新文献

{"title":"Exposure to fungi, bacteria, and endotoxin in a museum, with staff reporting work-related symptoms.","authors":"Anne Mette Madsen, Margit W Frederiksen, Hjördís Birna Árnadóttir","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2499599","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2499599","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Occupational exposure to airborne fungi in indoor environments may pose respiratory health risks. This study aimed to characterize exposure to fungi, bacteria, and endotoxin in a historical museum where the staff reported airway symptoms. Air samples were collected during three separate workdays using personal and stationary samplers. Fungi and bacteria were quantified and identified using MALDI-TOF MS, and the total inflammatory potential was measured through Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production in a human cell line. The geometric mean of staff exposure was 5.9 × 10³ CFU/m³ fungi, 1.8 × 10³ CFU/m³ bacteria, and 7.93 EU/m³ endotoxin. Staff reported symptoms of the airways, with immediate symptoms upon entering two departments, which exhibited elevated fungal concentrations compared to other departments. The most prevalent fungal species were <i>Aspergillus conicus, A. domesticus, A. pseudoglaucus</i>, <i>A. pseudogracilis</i>, and <i>Cladosporium</i> spp. Concentrations of bacteria were highest when staff were present and without dominance by any particular species. Staff exposure and stationary samples induced ROS production in a cell line, which correlated with concentrations of fungi, bacteria, and endotoxin. Fungi were detected on the museum artifacts, and concentrations of fungi and bacteria increased during handling of the artifacts. In conclusion, staff in the two departments where airway symptoms were reported were exposed to 2 × 10⁴ to 7 × 10⁴ CFU/m³ of fungi, primarily <i>Aspergillus</i> spp. and <i>Cladosporium</i>. spp. This exposure constituted both xerophilic species and species commonly found in water-damaged buildings, and they seemed to have developed on artifacts. These findings underscore the importance of developing preventive strategies to protect the health of museum staff. Moreover, it highlights the challenge of managing fungi adapted to varying humidity conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144174056","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":"Lung cancer risk assessment associated with exposure to hexavalent chromium: Results of pooled analysis of three cohorts.","authors":"Bruce C Allen, Melissa J Vincent, Loren Lipworth, Julie M Panko, Mina Suh, Xiaohui Jiang, Michael T Mumma, Deborah M Proctor","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2502491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2502491","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Quantitative risk assessments of inhaled hexavalent chromium (CrVI) have primarily relied on studies of two chromate production worker cohorts, involving male workers exposed to high concentrations of airborne CrVI that caused an exposure-dependent increase in lung cancer and elicited severe respiratory irritation. An additional larger cohort of CrVI-exposed aerospace workers, including women, and with lower intensity exposures, was recently updated with a longer follow-up period and reconstructed cumulative exposure estimates. A risk assessment was conducted using a pooled analysis of individual-level dose-response information from three cohorts, including the aerospace workers, to generate lung cancer inhalation unit risk estimates (IURs). IURs are estimates of the upper-bound of lifetime increased cancer risk from continuous inhalation exposure to 1 µg/m³ and are commonly used in quantitative risk assessment. Use of the pooled cohort broadens the range for dose-response analysis due to the comparatively low exposures to CrVI in the aerospace cohort; moreover, sex-specific risks could be expanded with the inclusion of female workers. Standardized logistic regression using person-year-specific weighted cumulative exposures was used to estimate the probability of lung cancer mortality, with varied weighting approaches. The primary model included male workers from all cohorts with a minimum of one year of CrVI exposure; secondary analyses examined the impacts of sex and short-term exposure. The best fit dose-response function was a Michaelis-Menten relationship. The IUR from the primary model was 0.01 (95%CI: 0.006-0.01) per µg/m³. Best estimates of the three IURs from secondary analyses, which removed the respiratory use adjustment factors, included females from the aerospace cohort and added workers with less than one year of exposure from the chromate production cohorts, were relatively consistent with the primary analyses, ranging from 0.008 to 0.03 per µg/m³. Use of this pooled IUR estimate allows for inclusion of a broader dose-response range and reduced uncertainty through use of a larger population, additional years of follow-up, and incorporation of broader geographical and cohort characteristics with improved relevancy to the general population.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144174075","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":"Evaluation of a smoke extraction system for veterinarian exposures to surgical smoke-A pilot study.","authors":"Kimberly R Anderson, Shiori Arai","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2496493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2496493","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrosurgery generates surgical smoke, which contains hazardous compounds. The concentration, composition, and size distribution of surgical smoke vary significantly with surgery type, duration, and number of times electrocautery is used. Exposure assessments have focused on characterizing occupational exposure to surgical smoke during human surgeries, but occupational exposure to surgical smoke during veterinary surgeries is largely unknown. Given the hazardous exposure concentrations identified in human surgical procedures, similar occupational exposures are expected in small animal surgeries. Thus, there is a critical need to evaluate occupational exposures among veterinarians conducting small animal surgeries and to evaluate potential exposure reduction systems. The objectives of the study are to quantify the particle number concentration and size distribution during canine limb amputation (CLA) surgery and to quantify the exposure reductions associated with a smoke evacuation system (SES). Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) during CLA was measured using a TSI NanoScan Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) Nanoparticle Sizer 3910 during surgeries with and without the SES. Particle number concentrations were 11 times higher compared to background concentrations during CLA surgeries. The particle number concentration was significantly reduced when using SES during surgery compared to surgeries without SES. The average total particle number concentration near the veterinarian's breathing zone was 25,141 particles/cm³ for surgeries without SES and 7,643 particles/cm³ when the SES was used during surgeries, which represents about a 70% reduction in exposure. CLA was associated with particle exposures similar to those seen in human surgeries. The use of SES effectively reduced the concentration of particles near the surgeon's breathing zone.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144174053","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":"Residential methamphetamine contamination in Boulder, Colorado: Incidence and implications.","authors":"James E Dennison, Norris Minick","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2499612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2499612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The manufacture and use of methamphetamine (meth) is a significant problem, in part because it can lead to the contamination of properties where it occurs. Meth contamination can lead to health issues for occupants as well as very high remediation costs for property owners. But even in a state like Colorado, where meth testing and remediation are highly regulated, the number of residences or other types of property that are contaminated more than contamination standards is unknown. Generally, testing for meth contamination occurs only after a property is identified as a likely site for meth use or manufacture, whether by law enforcement, the property owner, or a potential buyer. For this paper, a unique data set based on a real estate broker's meth screening program was used to determine the incidence of contaminated residences in general. Brokerage clients put 303 residential properties under contract between 2013 and 2022, of which 288 (95%) were screened for meth contamination. Meth was detected in 45 of the 288 screening tests (16%), often at trace levels, while 84% contained no detectable meth. Comprehensive testing was subsequently performed on 35 of these 45 properties and 10 (3.47%) of the original 288 screened properties contained meth contamination above the Colorado contamination standard of 0.5 µg/100 cm². Of the 288 screened properties, 9% exceeded 0.05 µg/100 cm², 6% exceeded 0.1 µg/100 cm², and 2% exceeded 1.5 µg/100 cm². While the sample size of this analysis was modest, it provides a true estimate of the incidence of meth-contaminated residential property and an indication of the public health significance of this issue.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144127913","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":"Improving AI object detection in fire scenes through data augmentation.","authors":"Fatima Lois Suarez, Yi-Lin Chen, Ray Hsienho Chang, Yan-Tsung Peng, Changjie Cai","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2499600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2499600","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been widely used to facilitate disaster response. By connecting cameras to AI software, it can help determine the number of firefighters and apparatus, enhancing efficiency on the fireground. However, we must overcome several challenges to effectively utilize AI in firefighting. One challenge is improving the brightness and resolution of pictures and videos taken at fire scenes. This study examines the impacts of two image enhancement methods, Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Zero-reference Deep Curve Estimation (Zero-DCE), on the accuracy of the AI-based object detector trained using images taken on various fire scenes. The results indicate that, after augmenting the training data with image enhancement techniques, the detector can accurately identify firefighters with a precision of 0.827 and firetrucks with a precision of 0.945. Enhancing the dataset's variety through these techniques improves the model's generalizability, provided that the test images are also enhanced to augment visual quality. Specifically, applying CLAHE during training increased the mean average precision (mAP) value by 8% and the recall by 7% from the baseline. Meanwhile, the integration of Zero-DCE demonstrated particular efficacy in recognizing firetrucks in low-light conditions, achieving the highest precision value of 0.945 among all the cases considered. This paper will benefit future applications of AI in fireground operations. Additionally, we provide directions for future researchers to advance AI recognition research in facilitating disaster response activities and fireground operations.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144119909","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":"RNA therapeutics-An evaluation of potential occupational health hazards and a strategy to establish occupational exposure limits (OELs).","authors":"S Araya, E Lovsin Barle, L Wiesner, K Blum, K Hashimoto, C Fisher, M Schwind, G Galati, C Sehner, T Pfister, D Witzigmann","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2485080","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2485080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>RNA therapeutics represent a rapidly expanding and innovative group of pharmaceuticals. These new modalities necessitate the establishment of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) to ensure safe occupational handling. While there is an established methodology for setting OELs for small molecule therapeutics, this methodology is not readily applicable to large molecule RNA therapeutics that deserve additional considerations in their safety assessment, particularly for aspects related to their unique modes of action. This research, which involves an extensive review of the data available for RNA therapeutics to derive substance-specific OELs and to propose a strategy for low-characterized RNA therapeutics, fills this crucial gap. It is recommended to apply an activity correction factor (ACF) in the OEL formula for large molecules, as representative of the \"α\" in the OEL formula for small molecules, considering differences in route of administration, critical effects, mechanism of action, and the RNA delivery platform. Additionally, it is proposed to consider lower OEL values for mRNA vaccines as compared to other RNA therapeutics. Finally, it is suggested that the exposure assessment experience that has already been acquired when handling therapeutic proteins can also be used to define containment strategies for RNA therapeutics.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144078611","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":"Residential washing machine efficacy in removing lead from clothing: A pilot study.","authors":"Chandran Achutan, Krystin Carlson, Kerri LeVanseler, James Couch","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2497871","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2497871","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Workers exposed to lead sometimes wear their work clothes home. It is possible that lead from contaminated work clothing can transfer to uncontaminated clothing, including children's items that may be in the same load, during laundering. This is concerning because lead is especially toxic for children. The purpose of this pilot study was to understand lead extraction from fabrics typically worn by workers, the amount of lead removed during normal laundering, and lead transfer to other fabrics during a laundry washing cycle. The study validated EPA analytical method 200.8 Determination of Trace Elements in Waters and Wastes by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry to analyze lead in Dickies pant fabric (DPF), T-shirt material (TSM), and blue jeans material (BJM). Because this methodology of extracting lead from fabrics is novel, a priori definitions of accuracy and precision used were ± 40%. Researchers spiked two levels (9 µg and 9,000 µg) of lead nitrate and three levels (9 µg, 900 µg, and 9,000 µg) of lead carbonate on 9 cm² fabric swatches and extracted lead by microwave-assisted digestion. Across all spike levels, mean recoveries were within 60% and 140% recovery. All percent coefficient of variation values were less than 20% for lead nitrate, indicating that this method for lead nitrate was sufficiently accurate and precise. For lead carbonate, the method was neither accurate nor precise at the 9 and 900 µg levels but was sufficiently accurate and precise at the 9,000 µg level. Eighteen loads of fabric swatches were spiked with either lead form and laundered in a washing machine using a common laundry detergent. The mean amount of lead removed from laundered DPF and TSM was similar (97.4 and 95.9%) and significantly higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) compared to laundered BJM (70.6%). The amount of lead carbonate removed (92.6%) was significantly higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) than lead nitrate (83.4%). The levels of lead that transferred from spiked fabric to bedsheets included in the same washing load were less than 0.5 µg. It is important to follow public health recommendations, such as laundering work clothes separately.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143970624","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":"Field comparison of inhalable air samplers for the determination of occupational exposure to inhalable aerosols and soluble proteins in food production.","authors":"Christine Darbakk, Pål Graff, Raymond Olsen","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2496492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2496492","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study assessed the performance of the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) and Gesamtstaubprobenahme (GSP) personal inhalable aerosol samplers in measuring aerosol and soluble protein (SP) concentrations across 12 food industry environments. A total of 193 sampling pairs (GSP and IOM) were analyzed for inhalable aerosols, and 185 sampling pairs for SP. Median aerosol concentrations ranged from 0.2 mg/m³ in snacks, nuts, and chips production to 5.6 mg/m³ in spreads production. The IOM sample had a median aerosol concentration of 1.8 mg/m³, while the GSP had a slightly lower median of 1.4 mg/m³, generally collecting 17% less inhalable aerosol than the IOM in most environments. The IOM also included wall deposits in its gravimetric determinations, contributing an additional 10-30% to the overall aerosol concentrations. For SP concentrations, the IOM measured higher aerosol concentrations in environments with a particle size distribution dominated by larger particles, while the GSP showed higher SP concentrations in environments dominated by smaller, respirable particles. The Tobit mixed-effect models showed that the IOM had statistically significantly higher aerosol concentrations compared to the GSP, but significantly lower SP concentrations than the GSP. However, these differences between the samplers were relatively small, suggesting that in occupational hygiene practices, both samplers can be used.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144009473","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":"Microbial exposure and diversity in Norwegian shrimp processing plants.","authors":"Fikirte Debebe Zegeye, Anne Straumfors, Peng Lei, Pål Graff, Johanna Samulin Erdem, Anani Komlavi Afanou","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2491488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2491488","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seafood processing workers have a high prevalence of respiratory symptoms and occupational asthma, primarily attributed to allergenic protein exposure. However, exposure to airborne microorganisms from raw materials can also contribute to allergic sensitization and other respiratory ailments. This study aimed to assess microbial exposure in shrimp processing plants and identify susceptible work tasks. Full-shift personal air samples were collected from two Norwegian shrimp processing plants across five distinct work processes: thawing, truck driving, cooking-peeling (technician), packing, and flour production. The samples were analyzed for the presence of endotoxin, Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) activation, bacterial and fungal DNA copies, and microbial composition. Endotoxin levels were generally low, with only one sample (98 EU/m³) exceeding the recommended occupational exposure limit (OEL). A significant TLR2 activation was observed among thawers, indicating the presence of microbial ligands capable of triggering an immune response. The median bacterial (75 × 10³ DNA copies/m³) and fungal (3,301 × 10³ DNA copies/m³) exposure were highest among the flour production workers, while the lowest bacterial and fungal exposure was among packers (1.5 × 10³ DNA copies/m³) and technicians (337 DNA copies/m³), respectively. Several bacterial and fungal species were identified, including ten allergenic and sixteen pathogenic species. <i>Sporobolomyces roseus</i> and <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> were the two most frequently identified allergenic fungal species. Among the pathogenic bacterial species, <i>Prevotella nigrescens</i> and <i>Roseomonas gilardii</i> were the two most detected species. While the pathogenic species were identified mainly in the packing, truck driving, and flour production work processes, most of the allergenic species were found in all work processes. Altogether, work processes before the cooking of shrimp (thawing and truck driving) had higher endotoxin, bacterial load, and species richness than after cooking, suggesting that these work tasks are susceptible to bacterial exposure and that the cooking process significantly reduces bacterial exposure. By shedding light on microbial exposure and identifying high-exposure work tasks, this study enables the development of targeted interventions and implementation of measures for the prevention of occupational diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144064075","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":"Airborne lead exposures during artisanal lead mining and gold ore processing in Zamfara, Nigeria.","authors":"Manti M Nota, Perry Gottesfeld, Stephen E Mbuligwe, Gabriel R Kassenga, Shehu Mohammed Anka","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2491490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2491490","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artisanal mining in Nigeria is growing along with the increase in the price of metals. However, self-employed miners, particularly in the northwest of the country, have brought extensive environmental contamination and severe lead poisoning from the lead content in the ore. This study assessed airborne lead exposures to miners during lead mining and gold ore processing in three villages in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Personal air samples were collected and analyzed for lead content. Gold processing operations were classified by task, including: manual mortar and pestle grinding, hammer crushing, and mechanical stone crushing and grinding operations with diesel-powered equipment. Separately, exposures were evaluated among underground lead miners. This study collected a total of 47 air samples, including 32 from gold ore processing sites and 15 from lead mining sites. The results indicated that underground miners were exposed to airborne lead at a mean concentration of 0.48 mg/m³, or approximately 10-fold the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL). Furthermore, miners at gold processing sites were exposed to airborne lead at a mean concentration of 1.59 mg/m³ for both mechanical and manual tasks, which is approximately 32-fold the PEL. Manual gold ore processing resulted in mean airborne lead exposures of 1.74 mg/m³, and those using mechanical methods had a mean concentration of 1.52 mg/m³. The results also indicated that the order of airborne lead level exposure was as follows: mortar and pestle operators > crusher operators > hammer operators > grinder operators > underground lead miners. Lead mining operations and gold ore processing consistently had elevated airborne lead at levels, posing risks of acute lead poisoning, and are likely contributing to take-home lead exposures observed in these communities. These results are consistent with the lead contamination of soil observed in housing compounds and at processing sites in this region. To address these risk factors, safer mine training and the adoption of wet methods were encouraged along with changes to personal hygiene practices and other measures to mitigate exposure and to protect miners and their communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144002836","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}