BACKGROUND: Cardiac pacemakers are known to be susceptible to strong electromagnetic fields (EMFs). This in vivo study investigated occurrence of electromagnetic interference with pacemakers caused by common environmental sources of EMFs. METHODS: Eleven volunteers with a pacemaker were exposed to EMFs produced by two mobile phone base stations, an electrically powered commuter train, and an overhead high voltage transmission lines. All the pacemakers were programmed in normal clinically selected settings with bipolar sensing and pacing configurations. RESULTS: None of the pacemakers experienced interference in any of these exposure situations. However, often it is not clear whether or not strong EMFs exist in various work environments, and hence an individual risk assessment is needed. CONCLUSIONS: Modern pacemakers are well shielded against external EMFs, and workers with a pacemaker can most often return to their previous work after having a pacemaker implanted. However, an appropriate risk assessment is still necessary after the implantation of a pacemaker, a change of its generator, or major modification of its programming settings.
Cellular Phone ; Electromagnetic Fields ; Magnets* ; Occupational Exposure ; Risk Assessment

BACKGROUND: Stochastic resonance whole-body vibration training (SR-WBV) was tested to reduce work-related musculoskeletal complaints. METHODS: Participants were 54 white-collar employees of a Swiss organization. The controlled crossover design comprised two groups each given 4 weeks of exercise and no training during a second 4-week period. Outcome was daily musculoskeletal well-being, musculoskeletal pain, and surefootedness. In addition, participants performed a behavioral test on body balance prior to when SR-WBV started and after 4 weeks of SR-WBV. RESULTS: Across the 4-week training period, musculoskeletal well-being and surefootedness were significantly increased (p < 0.05), whereas musculoskeletal pain was significantly reduced only in those who reported low back pain during the last 4 weeks prior to the study (p < 0.05). Body balance was significantly increased by SR-WBV (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SR-WBV seems to be an efficient option in primary prevention of musculoskeletal complaints and falls at work.
Cross-Over Studies ; Low Back Pain ; Musculoskeletal Pain ; Musculoskeletal System ; Occupational Health ; Primary Prevention ; Vibration* ; Workplace*

BACKGROUND: To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of work in Greece. METHODS: This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in 20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006-2012, using data from company medical records, questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The chi2 test was applied to reveal statistically significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs. RESULTS: A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%), construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%), and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%). We observed several statistical significant correlations between ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [chi2 (1) = 13.40, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [chi2 (1) = 5.53, p = 0.019] afflicting mainly women. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.
Acne Vulgaris ; Burns ; Burns, Chemical ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Environmental Health ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Greece* ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Occupational Exposure ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Skin ; Skin Diseases* ; Urticaria

BACKGROUND: Occupational end users of pesticides may experience bodily absorption of the pesticide products they use, risking possible health effects. The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers working in the field of agricultural health or other areas where occupational end use of pesticides and exposure issues are of interest. METHODS: This paper characterizes the health effects of pesticide exposure, jobs associated with pesticide use, pesticide-related tasks, absorption of pesticides through the skin, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for reducing exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Although international and national efforts to reduce pesticide exposure through regulatory means should continue, it is difficult in the agricultural sector to implement engineering or system controls. It is clear that use of PPE does reduce dermal pesticide exposure but compliance among the majority of occupationally exposed pesticide end users appears to be poor. More research is needed on higher-order controls to reduce pesticide exposure and to understand the reasons for poor compliance with PPE and identify effective training methods.
Absorption ; Administrative Personnel ; Agricultural Workers' Diseases ; Compliance ; Humans ; Methods ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupations ; Pesticides* ; Protective Clothing ; Skin ; Skin Absorption

Exposure to manganese (Mn) is associated with neurobehavioral effects. There is disagreement on whether commonly occurring exposures in welding, ferroalloy, and other industrial processes produce neurologically significant neurobehavioral changes representing parkinsonism. A review of methodological issues in the human epidemiological literature on Mn identified: (1) studies focused on idiopathic Parkinson disease without considering manganism, a parkinsonian syndrome; (2) studies with healthy worker effect bias; (3) studies with problematic statistical modeling; and (4) studies arising from case series derived from litigation. Investigations with adequate study design and exposure assessment revealed consistent neurobehavioral effects and attributable subclinical and clinical signs and symptoms of impairment. Twenty-eight studies show an exposure-response relationship between Mn and neurobehavioral effects, including 11 with continuous exposure metrics and six with three or four levels of contrasted exposure. The effects of sustained low-concentration exposures to Mn are consistent with the manifestations of early manganism, i.e., consistent with parkinsonism. This is compelling evidence that Mn is a neurotoxic chemical and there is good evidence that Mn exposures far below the current US standard of 5.0 mg/m3 are causing impairment.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Healthy Worker Effect ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Manganese* ; Models, Statistical ; Neurobehavioral Manifestations ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Occupations* ; Parkinson Disease ; Parkinsonian Disorders* ; Welding

The Dutch construction industry has introduced a compulsory preemployment medical examination (PE-ME). Best-evidence contents related to specific job demands are, however, lacking and need to be gathered. After the identification of job demands and health problems in the construction industry (systematic literature search and expert meeting), specific job demands and related requirements were defined and instruments proposed. Finally, a work ability assessment was linked to the instruments' outcomes, resulting in the modular character of the developed PE-ME. Twenty-two specific job demands for all Dutch construction jobs were identified, including kneeling/squatting, working under time pressure, and exposure to hazardous substances. The next step was proposing self-report questions, screening questionnaires, clinical tests, and/or performance-based tests, leading to a work ability judgment. "Lifting/carrying" is described as an example. The new modular PE-ME enables a job-specific assessment of work ability to be made for more than 100 jobs in the Dutch construction industry.
Construction Industry* ; Hazardous Substances ; Judgment ; Mass Screening ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Obesity is a significant problem affecting United States (US) firefighters. While body mass index (BMI) is widely used to diagnose obesity, its use for this occupational group has raised concerns about validity. We examined rates and types of misclassification of BMI-based obesity status compared to body fat percentage (BF%) and waist circumference (WC). Male career firefighters (N = 994) from 20 US departments completed all three body composition assessments. Mean BMI, BF%, and WC were 29 kg/m2, 23%, and 97 cm, respectively. Approximately 33% and 15% of BF%- and WC-defined obese participants were misclassified as non-obese (false negatives) using BMI, while 8% and 9% of non-obese participants defined by BF% and WC standards were identified as obese (false positives) using BMI. When stratified by race/ethnicity, Pacific Islanders showed high rates of false positive misclassification. Precision in obesity classification would be improved by using WC along with BMI to determine firefighters' weight status.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Classification ; Firefighters* ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity* ; Occupational Groups ; United States ; Waist Circumference

Investigation and analysis of accidents are critical elements of safety management. The over-riding purpose of an organization in carrying out an accident investigation is to prevent similar accidents, as well as seek a general improvement in the management of health and safety. Hundreds of workers have suffered injuries while installing, maintaining, or servicing machinery and equipment due to sudden re-energization of power lines. This study presents and analyzes two electrical accidents (1 fatal injury and 1 serious injury) that occurred because the power supply was reconnected inadvertently or by mistake.
Electric Power Supplies ; Greece* ; Safety Management

BACKGROUND: Relationships among portable scanning mobility particle sizer (P-SMPS), condensation particle counter (CPC), and surface area monitor (SAM), which are different metric measurement devices, were investigated, and two widely used research grade (RG)-SMPSs were compared to harmonize the measurement protocols. METHODS: Pearson correlation analysis was performed to compare the relation between P-SMPS, CPC, and SAM and two common RG-SMPS. RESULTS: For laboratory and engineered nanoparticle (ENP) workplaces, correlation among devices showed good relationships. Correlation among devices was fair in unintended nanoparticle (UNP)-emitting workplaces. This is partly explained by the fact that shape of particles was not spherical, although calibration of sampling instruments was performed using spherical particles and the concentration was very high at the UNP workplaces to allow them to aggregate more easily. Chain-like particles were found by scanning electron microscope in UNP workplaces. The CPC or SAM could be used as an alternative instrument instead of SMPS at the ENP-handling workplaces. At the UNP workplaces, where concentration is high, real-time instruments should be used with caution. There are significant differences between the two SMPSs tested. TSI SMPS showed about 20% higher concentration than the Grimm SMPS in all workplaces. CONCLUSIONS: For nanoparticle measurement, CPC and SAM might be useful to find source of emission at laboratory and ENP workplaces instead of P-SMPS in the first stage. An SMPS is required to measure with high accuracy. Caution is necessary when comparing data from different nanoparticle measurement devices and RG-SMPSs.
Calibration ; Nanoparticles*

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the number of workers exposed to diesel engine exhaust (DEE) by industry and year in the Republic of Korea. METHOD: The estimates of workers potentially exposed to DEE in the Republic of Korea were calculated by industry on the basis of the carcinogen exposure (CAREX) surveillance system. The data on the labor force employed in DEE exposure industries were obtained from the Census on Establishments conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office from 1993 to 2013. The mean values of prevalence rates adopted by EU15 countries were used as the primary exposure prevalence rates. We also investigated the exposure prevalence rates and exposure characteristics of DEE in 359 workplaces representing 11 industries. RESULTS: The total number of workers exposed to DEE were estimated as 270,014 in 1993 and 417,034 in 2013 (2.2% of the total labor force). As of 2013, the industry categorized as “Land transport” showed the highest number of workers exposed to DEE with 174,359, followed by “Personal and household services” with 70,298, “Construction” with 45,555, “Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels” with 44,005, and “Sanitation and similar services” with 12,584. These five industries, with more than 10,000 workers exposed to DEE, accounted for 83% of the total DEE-exposed workers. Comparing primary prevalence rates used for preliminary estimation among 49 industries, “Metal ore mining” had the highest rate at 52.6%, followed by “Other mining” with 50.0%, and “Land transport” with 23.6%. CONCLUSION: The DEE prevalence rates we surveyed (1.3–19.8%) were higher than the primary prevalence rates. The most common emission sources of DEE were diesel engine vehicles such as forklifts, trucks, and vans. Our estimated numbers of workers exposed to DEE can be used to identify industries with workers requiring protection from potential exposure to DEE in the Republic of Korea.
Censuses ; Employment ; Family Characteristics ; Korea* ; Methods ; Motor Vehicles ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Restaurants ; Vehicle Emissions*