Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene最新文献

{"title":"Enhancing noise reduction in 3D-printed earmuffs through geometric design of internal structures.","authors":"Leila Ibrahimi Ghavamabdi, Marzieh Sadeghian, Amir Akbari, Behzad Fouladi Dehaghi","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2667316","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2667316","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exposure to occupational noise remains a significant health hazard, necessitating effective hearing protection strategies. This study evaluated the impact of internal geometric design on the noise attenuation performance of 3D-printed earmuffs fabricated from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)/clay nanocomposite. Five earmuff variants were produced with identical external dimensions but differing middle-layer geometries: hexagonal (honeycomb), square, circular, rectangular, and triangular. Insertion loss (IL) was measured across frequencies from 125 Hz to 8000 Hz using an Acoustic Test Fixture (ATF) in accordance with ANSI/ASA S12.42-2010 <i>Methods for the Measurement of Insertion Loss of Hearing Protection Devices in Continuous or Impulsive Noise Using Microphone-in-Real-Ear or Acoustic Test Fixture Procedures</i> and ISO 4869-3:2007 <i>Acoustics-Hearing Protectors-Part 3: Measurement of Insertion Loss of Earmuff Type Protectors Using an Acoustic Test Fixture</i>. Results showed that geometric configuration notably influenced sound attenuation. The triangular structure achieved the highest IL at 500 Hz (25.5 dB) and 8000 Hz (31.8 dB), while the hexagonal design provided superior broadband performance, particularly at 1-4 kHz (19.1-24.9 dB). In contrast, all structured designs exhibited reduced effectiveness at 125-250 Hz, likely due to structural resonance and minor seal leakage. These findings demonstrate that strategic geometric patterning of internal earmuff layers can enhance passive noise control without increasing weight or material cost.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"680-686"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148277659","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 ATHENA heuristic: A proposed algorithm for analysis of time-series exposure monitoring data.","authors":"Spencer Pizzani, Caleb Ginorio González, Steven D Jahn","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2664464","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2664464","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exposure monitoring data available to industrial hygienists will eventually surpass the ability of a practitioner to effectively interpret without a consolidating computational approach. For large sets of time-series exposure data, the most important question that can be answered to determine if further exposure evaluation is required may be formulated as: Does this exposure data contain any period of time during which the identified occupational exposure limit value could be exceeded? Determining the answer to this question may be computationally intensive using current exposure decision methodology, better suited for small data sets consisting of single time-weighted average exposures. The authors instead proposed an algorithmic method for evaluating large sets of time-series exposure data without clearly defined exposure start and stop times, while also incorporating recommended data cleaning methods and an evaluation of statistical uncertainty. The outcome of this analysis was a binary \"thumbs up,\" indicating the time-series exposure data did not contain any time period that may have exceeded the limit value when considering confidence intervals, or \"thumbs down,\" indicating the opposite. Finally, the authors demonstrated the algorithmic heuristic using a proof-of-concept available to the public at no cost at https://athena-heuristic.streamlit.app/.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"644-656"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148277657","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":"A systematic review of the health effects of <i>Acacia</i>, <i>Eucalyptus</i>, and <i>Pinus</i> wood dust: Implications for South African occupational exposure limits.","authors":"Ilzé Engelbrecht, Suranie R Horn, Johan L du Plessis","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2555302","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2025.2555302","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>South Africa's commercially planted timber is mainly from the non-native genera <i>Acacia</i> (acacia), <i>Eucalyptus</i> (eucalyptus), and <i>Pinus</i> (pine). These trees are popular because they are fast-growing, stress-tolerant, and commercially profitable. During timber processing, woodworkers can be exposed to wood dust through inhalation or dermal contact. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) have been developed to help protect workers against adverse health effects from overexposure to wood dust. In South Africa, the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents of 2021 (RHCA 2021) list an inhalable OEL-maximum limit (ML) for wood dust from oak, beech, birch, mahogany, teak, and walnut (2 mg/m³), and OEL-restricted limit (RL) for all other species (5 mg/m³), but do not refer to acacia, eucalyptus, or pine. Due to their popularity as commercial plantation timber, these tree types may pose occupational health risks to South African woodworkers. This systematic review investigates the health effects associated with occupational exposure to acacia, eucalyptus, and pine wood dust and discusses the implications for South African OELs. A systematic literature search was conducted using EBSCO Academic Search Complete, PubMed Central, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science. Overall, 67 articles were included in the study. The prevalence of skin and respiratory sensitization in exposed workers was <10%. Adverse dermal effects included non-allergic skin sensitivity, allergic contact dermatitis, palpable erythema, and pigmentation loss. Respiratory effects included allergic alveolitis, vocal cord dysfunction, airway inflammatory reactions, higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms, and occupational asthma. Carcinogenicity was not reported. Exposure concentrations exceeded current South African (5 mg/m³, all species) and international inhalable wood dust OELs. Based on case reports, epidemiological and toxicological data, exposure studies, and current regulations, the authors propose an inhalable 8-hr time-weighted average-OEL-ML of 2 mg/m³ with dermal and respiratory sensitization notations for acacia, eucalyptus, and pine wood dust. To date, only <i>P. radiata</i> has been investigated as an occupational health hazard. To create representative OELs for occupational wood dust exposure, occupational epidemiological and toxicological studies for other common timbers should be undertaken.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"687-705"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145176115","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":"A customized system for whole-body vibration measurement.","authors":"Brian Fiegel, Yash Kumar Dhabi, Geb Thomas, Salam Rahmatalla, Elizabeth M Ritchie, Adam Ramker, Oliver Stroh, David G Wilder, Nathan B Fethke","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2659859","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2659859","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This manuscript describes the technical components and performance of a custom whole-body vibration (WBV) instrumentation system designed for autonomous, prolonged field measurement. The study demonstrated the technical readiness of the system's accelerometers. The system integrates a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller, triaxial microelectromechanical system accelerometers, force sensing resistors, global positioning system module, and microSD data storage. The accelerometers were validated against reference accelerometers commonly used in field-based WBV measurement using a motion simulator programmed with complex vibration input profiles specified in ISO 7096:2020 <i>Earth-Moving Machinery-Laboratory Evaluation of Operator Seat Vibration</i> for testing operator seat vibration in earth moving machinery. In the time domain, accelerometers in the custom WBV instrumentation system exhibited ≤ 2.21% error in root-mean-square (RMS) amplitude measurements and < 0.03 g sample-to-sample RMS deviation from the reference accelerometers. Frequency-domain analysis (1/3-octave band) suggested slight underestimation of signal power at low frequencies (≤10 Hz), but the differences were practically small at each 1/3-octave band. Ultimately, the system will enable WBV monitoring in settings in which operators are remote and/or the schedule of machine operation is variable (e.g., agriculture). Future work will focus on real-world validation and exploring use of the force sensing resistors to characterize operator posture, further enhancing the system's utility in occupational WBV exposure monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"607-617"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13317734/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148055063","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":"\"The Action Level^®\".","authors":"J Thomas Pierce","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2746911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2746911","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":"23 9","pages":"D25-D27"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149182648","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":"Comparative accuracy of instrumented and app-based WBGT for heat-stress screening in agricultural environments in Taiwan.","authors":"Hui-Yu Chen, Jou-Chun Lung, Szu-Yu Lin, Hsin-Yi Wu, Yun-Ru Huang, Po-Wen Li, Li-Wen Liu, Shih-Wei Tsai","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2657310","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2657310","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This pilot research assessed the reliability of wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) screening tools and examined how different microenvironments might affect worker-level WBGT in Taiwanese agriculture. In July 2024, WBGT was recorded at six locations using a QUESTemp monitor with sensors positioned at the head, abdomen, and ankle (weighted 1:2:1), along with portable Kestrel and AZ (AZ) devices and the AIHA^® app. The AZ devices were evaluated for within-site variations across various work environments, including soil, shade, ground-cover cloth, grassland, asphalt, and ridges. Agreement analyses and Bland-Altman plots were used to compare methods. Median WBGT values ranged in the low to mid-30s°C, with four sites having 50% or more of measurements at or above 32 °C. The Kestrel device demonstrated the closest agreement (bias +0.32 °C; RMSE 0.80 °C), the AZ device tended to underestimate (-0.94 °C; RMSE 1.28 °C), and the AIHA app showed the largest errors (bias -0.83 °C; RMSE 1.82 °C). Microenvironmental factors caused WBGT shifts between -1.25 and +2.87 °C, with decreases caused by working in shaded areas and increases caused by working in reflective ground covers. When screened against the operational WBGT benchmarks (30 °C and 32 °C), the QUESTemp monitor frequently recorded values at or above these thresholds, indicating high-heat conditions. However, the systematic underestimation by the wearable AZ device resulted in a significantly lower detection rate of the high-heat conditions, highlighting the risk of false-negative safety assessments when using uncorrected personal monitors. Overall, the portable/wearable Kestrel and AZ devices showed closer agreement with the QUEST than the weather-station-based app estimates. Given the limitations of regional weather data observed in this pilot study, effective heat-risk management in agriculture requires site-specific monitoring to account for microenvironmental variations, rather than relying solely on app-based estimates.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"596-606"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147963951","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":"Direct-on-filter Raman spectroscopy for quantifying respirable crystalline silica: Analytical challenges and practical considerations.","authors":"Bankole Osho, Lily Raymond, Mohammadreza Elahifard, Yifei Jin, Judith C Chow, John G Watson, Xiaoliang Wang, Behrooz Abbasi","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2707987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2707987","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluates the feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for quantitatively analyzing respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in coal dust samples using a direct-on-filter (DoF) approach. Key challenges include analytical sensitivity, spatial and chemical nonuniformity, fluorescence interference, and laser-induced heating effects. Although Raman spectroscopy has been proposed as a sensitive method for RCS measurement, a review of the literature shows that, when expressed as RCS mass per deposit area, the limits of quantification (LOQ) for portable Raman spectrometers (0.21-3.25 µg/mm²) are often higher than those reported for Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) (0.018-0.152 µg/mm²). Consequently, quantifying RCS on conventional 37 mm diameter filters is challenging due to insufficient areal loading. Concentrating samples onto a 9 mm diameter deposit area using a filter holder adapter increases Raman signal intensity by more than ten-fold, significantly enhancing sensitivity. Raman microscopes, which have small integration areas, are susceptible to deposit nonuniformity, whereas portable Raman spectrometers with larger laser beam diameters reduce this effect but remain sensitive to chemical heterogeneity. Laser-induced heating and photodegradation can remove organic compounds directly on the filter, thereby reducing both background signal and fluorescence and improving RCS measurement. These findings provide insights into the feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for RCS quantification, particularly in complex sample matrices such as coal dust.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148818618","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":"Linear predictive model of viral load from air samples in simulated conditions.","authors":"E C Pérez-Zatarain, J D Lira-Morales, J P González-Gómez, I González-López, J A Medrano-Félix, N Castro-Del Campo, J B Valdez-Torres, J R Ibarra-Rodríguez, C Chaidez-Quiroz","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2709612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2709612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Airborne viruses persist and propagate in indoor settings, increasing the likelihood of outbreaks and pandemics such as the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. Robust air sampling methods capable of detecting, identifying, and quantifying airborne viral particles can provide critical information for mitigating these risks. However, there is still no scientific consensus on standardized protocols for recovering airborne viruses indoors. This study aimed to formulate and validate a standardized protocol for air sampling and analysis tailored to accurately detect and quantify viral aerosols in controlled indoor environments. The research utilized three concentrations of MS2 bacteriophage (1 × 10⁶, 1 × 10⁹, and 1 × 10¹² genomic copies per liter, gc/L), a common surrogate for airborne viruses, aerosolized as particles ranging from 5 to 50 µm in an aerobiological chamber of 11,230 L. Experiments were performed under controlled conditions at 24 °C and 84% relative humidity. Air sampling employed the MD8 Airport (Sartorius) with gelatin filters, varying sampling flow rates (20, 30, and 50 L/min) and durations (5, 15, and 25 min), resulting in a recovery efficiency of 80 ± 26.5%. A linear regression model was developed to predict environmental viral particle numbers from qPCR recovery data. The results indicate that lower sampling flows (20 L/min) achieve more precise measurements for low viral concentrations, while their efficiency diminishes for extremely high concentrations over extended sampling times. The proposed methodology, combining gelatin filter samplers and qPCR, proved highly effective, detecting airborne viral loads as low as 1 × 10⁶ gc/L during short sampling periods, providing consistent results for rapid monitoring of viral particles at low concentrations in closed environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148794525","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":"Testing the reliability of asbestos analyses from multiple laboratories using blind bulk samples.","authors":"Patrick Steinle","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2707981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2707981","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sporadic occurrence of contradictory lab results regarding the presence of asbestos in building materials has raised questions about the quality of routine analyses performed by labs that offer their services on the Swiss Asbestos Forum (FACH) website, which is administered by the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva). These labs have committed to a careful preparation of \"difficult\" samples, such as window putty, tile adhesive and other materials containing often low concentrations of asbestos, so as to increase the likelihood of detection. Most of the labs are accredited for asbestos analysis by their respective national accreditation body, and all have regularly passed proficiency testing (PT) schemes such as the <i>Asbestos in Materials Scheme</i> (AIMS) of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE, Buxton, UK) or the <i>Bulk Asbestos Proficiency Analytical Testing</i> (BAPAT) provided by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA, Falls Church, VA). Sample sets of pre-tested building materials were shipped to these labs from unsuspicious senders at irregular intervals, approximately once per year since 2019. Error rates were high at the beginning of the program, with a maximum of 17% false negative results in the second round, decreasing to less than 5% in subsequent rounds. The rate of false positives was markedly lower, with a maximum of 3% in the first of five rounds. Overall, Swiss labs performed better than non-Swiss labs, and concentrations greater than 1% were correctly detected more often than those of lower concentrations. The method used (mostly polarized light microscopy (PLM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), as well as accreditation and price of the analyses, did not significantly influence analysis outcomes. Approximately half of the laboratories provided an estimate of the asbestos content in the samples, often with significant discrepancies between individual and reference laboratories. The use of SEM analysis has led to significantly higher asbestos content estimates than PLM analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148794462","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":"Violence virtual reality de-escalation training for healthcare workers working in high-risk departments: Evaluation of perceived usefulness.","authors":"S Bari, A Cheema, K Lockhart, A Yassi","doi":"10.1080/15459624.2026.2692346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2692346","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Violence against healthcare workers (HCWs) is a growing global concern. In the wake of the pandemic, HCWs are subjected to physical and verbal violence more than ever before. This violence is largely unreported, and therefore, the true scope of the problem is unknown. Violence training is mandated in many jurisdictions; however, this has usually been online or classroom-based learning with hypothetical scenarios. Virtual reality (VR) offers a unique opportunity for HCWs to interact in violent scenarios to learn and practice de-escalation techniques. This research focuses on VR training of physicians in a 1-hour session with both quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants. The 27 physicians who participated showed statistically significant positive shifts in self-reported confidence in handling potentially violent situations and understanding of basic verbal de-escalation techniques. In addition, the participants consistently rated the VR training tool extremely high across all core evaluative domains, confirming its strong perceived usability, realism, engagement, satisfaction, and value. Notwithstanding logistical challenges and the need for longitudinal follow-up to test real-life impacts, VR allows physicians to practice their ability to interact with potentially violent patients or their families in a safe manner, which could increase their confidence in de-escalation skills and response to high-risk/violent incidents.</p>","PeriodicalId":16599,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148761958","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}