BACKGROUND: Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are mixtures with inhalation exposures as mists, dusts, and vapors, and dermal exposure in the dispersed and bulk liquid phase. A quantitative risk assessment was performed for exposure to MWF and respiratory disease.METHODS: Risks associated with MWF were derived from published studies and NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluations, and lifetime risks were calculated. The outcomes analyzed included adult onset asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pulmonary function impairment, and reported symptoms. Incidence rates were compiled or estimated, and annual proportional loss of respiratory capacity was derived from cross-sectional assessments.RESULTS: A strong healthy worker survivor effect was present. New-onset asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, at 0.1 mg/m3 MWF under continuous outbreak conditions, had a lifetime risk of 45%; if the associated microbiological conditions occur with only 5% prevalence, then the lifetime risk would be about 3%. At 0.1 mg/m3, the estimate of excess lifetime risk of attributable pulmonary impairment was 0.25%, which may have been underestimated by a factor of 5 or more by a strong healthy worker survivor effect. The symptom prevalence associated with respiratory impairment at 0.1 mg/m3 MWF was estimated to be 5% (published studies) and 21% (Health Hazard Evaluations).CONCLUSION: Significant risks of impairment and chronic disease occurred at 0.1 mg/m3 for MWFs in use mostly before 2000. Evolving MWFs contain new ingredients with uncharacterized long-term hazards.
Adult ; Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; Asthma ; Asthma, Occupational ; Chronic Disease ; Dust ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inhalation Exposure ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Prevalence ; Risk Assessment ; Survivors

BACKGROUND: Emerging reports suggest the potential for adverse health effects from exposure to emissions from some additive manufacturing (AM) processes. There is a paucity of real-world data on emissions from AM machines in industrial workplaces and personal exposures among AM operators. METHODS: Airborne particle and organic chemical emissions and personal exposures were characterized using real-time and time-integrated sampling techniques in four manufacturing facilities using industrial-scale material extrusion and material jetting AM processes. RESULTS: Using a condensation nuclei counter, number-based particle emission rates (ERs) (number/min) from material extrusion AM machines ranged from 4.1×1010 (Ultem filament) to 2.2×1011 [acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate filaments). For these same machines, total volatile organic compound ERs (mg/min) ranged from 1.9×104 (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate) to 9.4×104 (Ultem). For the material jetting machines, the number-based particle ER was higher when the lid was open (2.3×1010 number/min) than when the lid was closed (1.5–5.5×109 number/min); total volatile organic compound ERs were similar regardless of the lid position. Low levels of acetone, benzene, toluene, and m,p-xylene were common to both AM processes. Carbonyl compounds were detected; however, none were specifically attributed to the AM processes. Personal exposures to metals (aluminum and iron) and eight volatile organic compounds were all below National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-recommended exposure levels. CONCLUSION: Industrial-scale AM machines using thermoplastics and resins released particles and organic vapors into workplace air. More research is needed to understand factors influencing real-world industrial-scale AM process emissions and exposures.
Acetone ; Benzene ; Humans ; Metals ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Styrene ; Toluene ; Volatile Organic Compounds

When conducting an exposure assessment, the primary goal of the industrial hygienist is to fully characterize the worker's exposure during a work shift to compare it with an occupational exposure limit. This applies regardless of the duration of the work activity as an activity that is relatively short in duration can still present exposure in excess of the occupational exposure limit even when normalized over an 8-hr shift. This goal, however, is often impeded by the specification of a minimum sample volume in the published sampling method, which may prevent the sample from being collected or submitted for analysis. Removing the specification of minimum sample volume (or adjusting it from a requirement to a recommendation), in contrast, allows for a broader assessment of jobs that consist of short-duration and high-exposure activities and also eliminates the unnecessary practice of running sampling pumps in clean air to collect a specified, minimum volume.
Methods ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupational Health ; Running

BACKGROUND: Painters in the automotive sector are routinely exposed to volatile organic solvents, and the levels vary depending on the occupational health and safety controls enforced at the companies. This study investigates the levels of exposure to organic vapors and the existence of controls in the formal economy sector in southern Colombia. METHODS: This is an exploratory study of an observational and descriptive character. An analysis of solvents is conducted via the personal sampling of painters and the analysis of samples using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1501 method. The amount of solvents analyzed varied according to the budget allocated by the companies. The person in charge of the occupational safety and health management system was interviewed to learn about the exposure controls implemented at the companies. RESULTS: A medium exposure risk for toluene was found in one company. Another presented medium risk for carbon tetrachloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, and n-butanol. The others showed low risk of exposure and that the controls implemented were not sufficient or efficient. CONCLUSION: These results shed light on the working conditions of these tradespeople. The permissible limits established by Colombian regulations for the evaluated chemical contaminants were not exceeded. However, there were contaminants that exceeded the limits of action. The analysis of findings made it possible to propose improvements in occupational safety and health management systems to allow the optimization of working conditions for painters, prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, and reduce costs to the country's health system.
1-Butanol ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Colombia ; Humans ; Methods ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Health ; Social Control, Formal ; Solvents ; Toluene ; Xylenes

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to suggest revised recognition standards for occupational disease due to chromium (VI) by reflecting recent domestic and international research works and considering domestic exposure status with respect to target organs, exposure period, and cumulative exposure dose in relation to the chromium (VI)-induced occupational disease compensation. METHODS: In this study, the reports published by major international institutions such as World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (2012), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2006), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) (2013), American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) (2004), National Toxicology Program (NTP) (2014), and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ASTDR) (2012) were reviewed and the recent research works searched by PubMed were summarized. RESULTS: Considering the recent research works and the domestic situation, only lung cancer is conserved in the legislative bill in relation to chromium (VI), and the exposure period is not included in the bill. Nasal and paranasal sinus cancer was excluded from the list of cancers that are compensated as the chromium (VI)- induced occupational disease, while lung cancer remains in the list. In the view of legislative unity, considering the fact that only the cancers having sufficient evidence are included in the conventional list of cancers compensated as occupational disease, nasal and paranasal sinus cancer having limited evidence were excluded from the list. The exposure period was also removed from the legislative bill due to the insufficient evidence. Recent advices in connection with cumulative exposure dose were proposed, and other considerable points were provided with respect to individual occupational relevance. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the current recognition standard which is “Lung cancer or nasal and paranasal sinus cancer caused by exposure to chromium (VI) or compounds thereof (exposure for two years or longer), or nickel compounds” should be changed to “Lung cancer caused by exposure to chromium (VI) or compounds thereof, and lung cancer or nasal and paranasal sinus cancer caused by exposure to nickel compounds”.
Chromium ; Compensation and Redress ; International Agencies ; Korea ; Lung Neoplasms ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Nickel ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Exposure ; Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms ; Toxicology ; United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND: Self-reported low back pain (LBP) has been evaluated in relation to material handling lifting tasks, but little research has focused on relating quantifiable stressors to LBP at the individual level. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Composite Lifting Index (CLI) has been used to quantify stressors for lifting tasks. A chemical exposure can be readily used as an exposure metric or stressor for chemical risk assessment (RA). Defining and quantifying lifting nonchemical stressors and related adverse responses is more difficult. Stressor–response models appropriate for CLI and LBP associations do not easily fit in common chemical RA modeling techniques (e.g., Benchmark Dose methods), so different approaches were tried. METHODS: This work used prospective data from 138 manufacturing workers to consider the linkage of the occupational stressor of material lifting to LBP. The final model used a Bayesian random threshold approach to estimate the probability of an increase in LBP as a threshold step function. RESULTS: Using maximal and mean CLI values, a significant increase in the probability of LBP for values above 1.5 was found. CONCLUSION: A risk of LBP associated with CLI values > 1.5 existed in this worker population. The relevance for other populations requires further study.
Bayes Theorem ; Benchmarking ; Lifting* ; Low Back Pain* ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Exposure ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Assessment*

BACKGROUND: Building demolition can lead to emission of dust into the environment. Exposure to silica dust may be considered as an important hazard in these sites. The objectives of this research were to determine the amount of workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust and assess the relative risk of silicosis and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer in demolition workers. METHODS: Four sites in the Tehran megacity region were selected. Silica dust was collected using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health method 7601 and determined spectrophotometrically. The Mannetje et al and Rice et al models were chosen to examine the rate of silicosis-related mortality and the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer, respectively. RESULTS: The amount of demolition workers' exposure was in the range of 0.085-0.185 mg/m³. The range of relative risk of silicosis related mortality was increased from 1 in the workers with the lowest exposure level to 22.64/1,000 in the employees with high exposure level. The range of the excess lifetime risk of mortality from lung cancer was in the range of 32-60/1,000 exposed workers. CONCLUSION: Geometric and arithmetic mean of exposure was higher than threshold limit value for silica dust in all demolition sites. The risk of silicosis mortality for many demolition workers was higher than 1/1,000 (unacceptable level of risk). Estimating the lifetime lung cancer mortality showed a higher risk of mortality from lung cancer in building demolition workers.
Crystallins ; Dust* ; Lung Neoplasms ; Methods ; Mortality ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Exposure ; Risk Assessment* ; Silicon Dioxide* ; Silicosis

Health Promotion ; methods ; Humans ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Health ; United States

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the risk factors related to upper extremities work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) in cameramen. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was performed on 166 cameramen in a broadcasting station. The questionnaire consisted of questions on the general characteristics, the health behavior, work type and duration, physical burden, ergonomic posture, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Definition of musculoskeletal disorders was based on NIOSH criteria. RESULTS: The positive rate of WRMSDs symptoms by parts of the body was turned out to be the highest in the shoulder (14.5%) and the lowest in arm and elbow (6%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that symptoms in the shoulders increased with BMI (OR = 3.62, 95% CI = 1.03-12.71), physical burden (OR = 9.29, 95% CI = 1.72-61.78 in the very hard group) and ergonomic factors (OR = 4.50, 95% CI = 1.03-19.68). Ergonomic factors were only related to the symptoms of hand and wrist (OR = 10.21, 95% CI = 1.02-102.20). WRMSDs symptoms, in the whole upper extremities, were higher in the 50 or older age group (OR = 5.86, 95% CI = 1.03-33.26), higher BMI group (OR = 3.26, 95% CI = 1.28-13.53), non-exercise group (OR = 2.37, 95% CI = 1.24-12.59), high physical burden group (OR = 7.6, 95% CI = 1.34-52.74), and high grade ergonomic risk group (OR = 4.82, 95% CI = 1.29-16.06). CONCLUSION: The most serious musculoskeletal disorders of male cameramen were shoulder pain. Ergonomic factors and physical burden were the most significant factors affecting WRMSDs in cameramen in this study. Cameramen should be educated to be able to improve the ergonomic occupational environment and to set up preventive measures against the risk factors during work.
Arm ; Elbow ; Hand ; Health Behavior ; Human Engineering ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male* ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Diseases ; Posture ; Risk Factors* ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Pain ; Upper Extremity* ; Wrist

We developed an evidence-based practice guideline to support occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals in assessing the risk due to lifting and in selecting effective preventive measures for low back pain (LBP) in the Netherlands. The guideline was developed at the request of the Dutch government by a project team of experts and OSH professionals in lifting and work-related LBP. The recommendations for risk assessment were based on the quality of instruments to assess the risk on LBP due to lifting. Recommendations for interventions were based on a systematic review of the effects of worker- and work directed interventions to reduce back load due to lifting. The quality of the evidence was rated as strong (A), moderate (B), limited (C) or based on consensus (D). Finally, eight experts and twenty-four OSH professionals commented on and evaluated the content and the feasibility of the preliminary guideline. For risk assessment we recommend loads heavier than 25 kg always to be considered a risk for LBP while loads less than 3 kg do not pose a risk. For loads between 3-25 kg, risk assessment shall be performed using the Manual handling Assessment Charts (MAC)-Tool or National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation. Effective work oriented interventions are patient lifting devices (Level A) and lifting devices for goods (Level C), optimizing working height (Level A) and reducing load mass (Level C). Ineffective work oriented preventive measures are regulations to ban lifting without proper alternatives (Level D). We do not recommend worker-oriented interventions but consider personal lift assist devices as promising (Level C). Ineffective worker-oriented preventive measures are training in lifting technique (Level A), use of back-belts (Level A) and pre-employment medical examinations (Level A). This multidisciplinary evidence-based practice guideline gives clear criteria whether an employee is at risk for LBP while lifting and provides an easy-reference for (in)effective risk reduction measures based on scientific evidence, experience, and consensus among OSH experts and practitioners.
Back Pain ; Consensus ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Lifting* ; Low Back Pain* ; Moving and Lifting Patients ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Netherlands ; Occupational Health ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Reduction Behavior ; Social Control, Formal