Comparative analysis of four risk assessment methods for benzene homologues exposure at key work sites in the automobile manufacturing industry
10.20001/j.issn.2095-2619.20250407
- VernacularTitle:4种风险评估方法对汽车整车制造业重点岗位苯系物接触危害分析
- Author:
Lin CHEN
1
;
Danping DUAN
;
Zibo CEN
;
Peixian CHEN
;
Shaofang ZHU
;
Hai ZHANG
Author Information
1. Guangzhou Twelfth People's Hospital,Guangzhou Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510620, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Risk assessment;
Benzene homologues;
Benzene;
Toluene;
Xylene;
Occupational health;
Automobile manufacturing industry
- From:
China Occupational Medicine
2025;52(2):160-165
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To explore the applicability of four risk assessment methods in evaluating occupational health risks associated with low-level benzene homologues exposure in key work sites within the automobile manufacturing industry. Methods The work sites (paint mixing and spray painting) with exposure to benzene homologues among six automobile manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province were selected as the study subjects using the judgmental sampling method. Qualitative risk assessment, exposure index method, non-carcinogenic risk assessment, and the International Council on Mining and Metals risk rating method were independently applied to evaluate the occupational health risks of benzene homologues at these work sites. Accuracy, consistency, and correlation of the four methods were compared. Results The air levels of benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene in work sites of paint mixing and spray painting across all six enterprises met national occupational health standards. The median ratios of occupational exposure limits for benzene and toluene in spray painting site were higher than those in paint mixing site (0.017 vs 0.010, P<0.05). Using this ratio as a reference for evaluating method accuracy, the non-carcinogenic risk assessment method could distinguish paint mixing site from spray painting site in terms of risk level (P<0.05), whereas the other three methods could not (both P>0.05). The result of consistency testing revealed that the Kappa coefficients between the four methods ranged from -0.13-0.26, indicating poor consistency. The result of Spearman correlation analysis showed that the non-carcinogenic risk assessment and exposure index methods had higher correlation with occupational exposure limits ratios (Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.501 and 0.656, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusion Occupational health risk assessment can serve as a supplementary tool to evaluate the hazard level of key work sites in the automobile manufacturing industry. Non-carcinogenic risk assessment shows higher accuracy.
