Environmental Monitoring ; methods ; Inhalation Exposure ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis ; Workplace

This study was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the environmental exposure and biological monitoring among workers exposed to metallic mercury. We interviewed each workers to get the medical history including previous hazardous occupational history we measured the respiration rate and tidal volume of each worker in order to calculate the 8-hour inhaled mercury of workers. And we wanted to evaluate the effect of exposure duration to mercury concentrations in blood and urine as biologic exposure indices of metallic mercury. The regression and correlation analysis were done to the relationships of 8-hour inhaled mercury are mercury in blood and urine. The results were as follows; 1. The subjects were 35 fluorescent lamp manufacturing workers. The mean age of subjects was 24.8 years old, and the mean work careers of workers was 1.19 years. 89% of the total was consisted man. 2. The correlation coefficients between 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine were higher than that of only considered air mercury concentration. 3. The correlation coefficients of 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine were above 0.9 in workers who had exposed to mercury more than 1 year. 4. The R-square value and -value of regression analysis between the 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury inn blood and urine was also higher in workers who had exposed to mercury over 1 year than in workers who had less than 1 year working experience. The important results or this study were that relationships between the 8hr-inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine was very high than that with air mercury concentration only. And the results were very apparent when considering workers 1 year or more. Therefore we concluded that the work career and respiratory volume of each individuals should be considered in evaluation the results of biological monitoring of workers exposed to metallic mercury.
Environmental Exposure ; Environmental Monitoring ; Inhalation* ; Respiratory Rate ; Tidal Volume

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Inhalation Exposure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paraquat ; poisoning

BACKGROUND: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is an acquired disease which etiology remains unknown. It is characterized by the development of sensitivity to certain chemical products. Most of the hypotheses formulated to explain the syndrome associate it to a previous exposition to some kind of volatile chemical. University researchers in chemical laboratories suffer a phenomenon of multi-exposition to chemical agents at low concentration during long periods of time although in an irregular form. Many of these chemical agents have similar properties to those suspicious of causing MCS. This article studies the prevalence of MCS in laboratory researchers. METHODS: The study group is university researchers in chemical laboratories. The control group was obtained from administrative personnel who work in the same universities and therefore, are not exposed to chemical products from the laboratories, but have the same exposition to the rest of environmental polluting agents from the area and from the buildings of the university. In this study, it is used the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) (sensitivity of 92%/specificity of 95%). RESULTS: The results showed that the prevalence of MCS for the university researchers is not related to exposition by inhalation to multiple chemical agents, at low concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The results disagree with one of the main etiological hypotheses of MCS, which is based on the existence of hypersensitive people, who presents a response after prolonged expositions to very low concentrations during a long period of time.
Administrative Personnel ; Environmental Exposure ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity* ; Prevalence

Trichloroethylene (TCE, C2HCl3), which was introduced as a gas for general anesthesia and analgesia in early 1900's has been widely used in industry as an organic solvent. Occupational exposure to TCE is an important medical problem. Manifestations of acute exposure to TCE include mucocutaneous irritation, hepatotoxicity, cognitive impairment, sleep, headache, respiratory insufficiency and death. We report a 38-year-old man who was admitted to a department of emergency medicine after occupational inhalation exposure to TCE. He rapidly developed semicoma and respiratory depression. After mechanical ventilation, hypercapnea and hypoxemia disappeared and his mental state again became alert. Careful evaluation and proper respiratory support are important for respiratory failure after occupational TCE inhalation.
Adult ; Analgesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Anoxia ; Emergency Medicine ; Headache ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Occupational Exposure ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Trichloroethylene

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a simple-to-use and reliable screening tool called Critical Task Exposure Screening (CTES), developed by a chemical company. The tool assesses if the exposure to a chemical for a task is likely to be within acceptable levels. METHODS: CTES is a Microsoft Excel tool, where the inhalation risk score is calculated by relating the exposure estimate to the corresponding occupational exposure limit (OEL) or occupational exposure band (OEB). The inhalation exposure is estimated for tasks by preassigned ART1.5 activity classes and modifying factors. RESULTS: CTES requires few inputs. The toxicological data, including OELs, OEBs, and vapor pressure are read from a database. Once the substance is selected, the user specifies its concentration and then chooses the task description and its duration. CTES has three outputs that may trigger follow-up: (1) inhalation risk score; (2) identification of the skin hazard with the skin warnings for local and systemic adverse effects; and (3) status for carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic effects. CONCLUSION: The tool provides an effective way to rapidly screen low-concern tasks, and quickly identifies certain tasks involving substances that will need further review with, nevertheless, the appropriate conservatism. This tool shows that the higher-tier ART1.5 inhalation exposure assessment model can be included effectively in a screening tool. After 2 years of worldwide extensive use within the company, CTES is well perceived by the users, including the shop floor management, and it fulfills its target of screening tool.
Follow-Up Studies ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Mass Screening* ; Occupational Exposure ; Politics ; Risk Assessment* ; Risk Management ; Skin ; Vapor Pressure

BACKGROUND: Children usually exhibit pain-related behavior in the postanesthetic care unit. The aim of the present study was to compare the recovery and emergence profiles of children who received sevoflurane with caudal block or IV ketolorac or none for inguinal herniorrhaphy. METHODS: Forty five children, ASA 1, scheduled for herniorrhaphy were randomly assigned to receive either caudal block(n = 15), IV ketorolac (n = 15), or none (n = 15). All children were premedicated with midazolam(0.05 mg/kg) and glycopyrrolate (0.004 mg/kg) an hour before anesthesia induction. Thiopental sodium (5 mg/kg) and mask inhalation of sevoflurane 2 vol% in N2O/O2 50/50 were used to induce anesthesia. After induction, group 1 received none, while groups 2 and 3 received a caudal block and IV ketorolac, respectively. Anesthesia was maintained by sevoflurane with N2O/O2 inhalation via an endotracheal tube. Recovery was assessed by an independent observer using a postansthetic recovery score. Pain score was also assessed by an independent observer using a pain/discomfort scale. Recovery and agitation characteristics on emergence were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: There were no difference between the groups with respect to age, weight, duration of inhalation exposure, or recovery score. Agitation and pain scores were less in both the caudal block and IV ketorolac groups (P <0.05). Emergence delirium occurred less frequently in the caudal block and IV ketorolac groups (P <0.05). There was no significant difference between the caudal block and the IV ketorolac groups in emergence delirium. CONCLUSIONS: Emergence delirium after sevoflurane anesthesia was less common in the caudal block and IV ketorolac groups. Thus, it is presumed that the postoperative analgesic actions of caudal block or IV ketorolac reduce emergence delirium during recovery from sevoflurane anesthesia.
Anesthesia* ; Child* ; Delirium* ; Dihydroergotamine ; Glycopyrrolate ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Ketorolac* ; Masks ; Thiopental

BACKGROUND: Children usually exhibit pain-related behavior in postanesthetic care units. The aim of the present study was to assess the recovery quality of herniorrhaphy pediatric patients who received sevoflurane with or without caudal block. METHODS: Thirty children, ASA 1, scheduled for herniorrhaphy were randomly assigned to receive either a caudal block (n = 15) or no caudal block (n = 15). All children were premedicated with midazolam (0.05 mg/kg) and glycopyrrolate (0.004 mg/kg) an hour before anesthesia induction. Thiopental sodium (5 mg/kg) and the inhalation of sevoflurane 2 vol% in N2O/O2 50/50 via a mask, were used to induce anesthesia. After induction, group 1 did not receive caudal block, whereas group 2 did. Rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg) was used for the tracheal intubation. Anesthesia was maintained by the inhalation of sevoflurane via an endotracheal tube. Recovery was assessed by an independent observer using a postanesthetic recovery score. Pain scores were also obtained by an independent observer using a pain/discomfort scale. Recovery and agitation characteristics of the two groups were compared on emergence. RESULTS: The groups were similar with respect to age, weight, duration of inhalation exposure, and recovery score. Agitation and pain scores were lower in the caudal group (P < 0.01). Emergence agitation occured less frequently in the caudal group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Emergence agitation after sevoflurane anesthesia was less common in caudal group. Thus, we believe that the analgesic action of caudal block reduces emergence agitation during recovery from sevoflurane anesthesia.
Anesthesia* ; Child ; Dihydroergotamine* ; Glycopyrrolate ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Intubation ; Masks ; Midazolam ; Thiopental

Ammonia is commonly used in industry and agriculture. It is also one of the most frequently accidentally spilled chemicals. Exposure to ammonia can cause severe cutaneous burn or freezing injury, ocular injury, and inhalation injury, among them inhalation injury is the most lethal one. Although the diagnosis and treatment of ammonia burns have been improved, the long-term prognosis is not satisfactory. In this article, we reviewed the literature concerning ammonia burns, in order to summarize the clinical features and treatment of such injury.
Ammonia ; adverse effects ; Burns, Chemical ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Burns, Inhalation ; Humans ; Inhalation Exposure ; adverse effects ; Prognosis

The inhalation of naphthalene used as deodorant balls in public toilets could be an important cancer risk factor. The atmospheric concentration of naphthalene in public toilets (C(in)) was estimated both by a polyurethane foam passive air sampler (PUF-PAS) deployed in nine public toilets in Seoul, Korea and by a steady-state indoor air quality model, including emission estimation using Monte-Carlo simulation. Based on the estimated C(in), cancer risk was also assessed for cleaning workers and the general population. The steady-state C(in) estimated using the estimated emission rate, which assumed that air exchange was the only process by which naphthalene was removed, was much greater than the C(in) value measured using PUF-PAS in nine public toilets, implying the importance of other removal processes, such as sorption to walls and the garments of visitors, as well as decreased emission rate owing to wetting of the naphthalene ball surface. The 95 percentile values of cancer risk for workers based on the estimation by PUF-PAS was 1.6×10⁻⁶, whereas those for the general public were lower than 1×10⁻⁶. The results suggested that naphthalene deodorant balls in public toilets may be an important cancer risk factor especially for the cleaning workers.
Air Pollution, Indoor ; Clothing ; Deodorants ; Inhalation Exposure ; Inhalation ; Korea ; Polyurethanes ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Seoul