摘要:

AbstractIn 1987, the Swedish government requested a unique investigation of the consequences of a 50% reduction of permissible exposure levels (PEL) for organic solvents. As a result, 29 solvents were investigated and for 25 of them a reduction—if not to 50%—was suggested. For 13 of the solvents, there existed scientific arguments for a reduction of the PEL. For 12 solvents, no specific biomedical information was available. Presumed interactions between solvents may have influenced the decisions, but technological/economic feasibility criteria may also have been used by the regulators.This suggests that the use of technological/economic feasibility criteria can give lower PELs than health criteria. This is within the intentions of the Swedish Work Environment

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190502

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA review of cardiovascular disease (CVD) resulting from environmental exposures pointed out the lack of studies concerned with the cardiovascular effects of hazardous environmental exposures. A later Working Group report on CVD in the workplace recommended further occupational studies of CVD, and it identified carbon monoxide, nitrates, and organic solvents as exposures especially deserving of study. The literature lacks a detailed, critical epidemiologic overview of work on this last topic. Therefore, the following review focuses on the cardiovascular effects of solvent exposures. Some major difficulties inherent in studies of CVD and environmental exposures are brought out, and some suggested areas for future epidemiologic research are discussed.

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190503

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractAccurate information on actual exposure to some possibly toxic agent usually is not available in long‐term occupational studies. Any strategy for assigning exposure levels or categories necessarily results in misclassification, where some individuals classified asexposedhave no real exposure and some individuals classified asnot exposedhave some exposure to the agent. Both misclassification errors serve to reduce the estimate of risk associated with exposure. The question arises, “How much does the true risk depart from the observed estimate given an assumed level of misclassification?” This paper quantifies the effect of such misclassification on several forms of standardized risk ratios. Our results express the true risk as a function of the apparent risk based on imprecise exposure classification and parameters representing the proportion of each of the groups that are correctly classified. In any practical situation, the apparent risk can be computed based on whatever classification scheme is being used. On the other hand, the proportions of the imprecisely classified groups actually exposed cannot. However, the investigator may have information or may make assumptions for likely ranges of values for these proportions. Given the apparent risk, estimated true risks can be calculated and plotted or represented in tabular form as a function of the proportions of actual exposure. The resulting graph or table enables the investigator to read off the range of possible true risk values based on what he is prepared to believe or what other information indicates about the range of proportions of misclassified subjects. For instance, results for a typical value of apparent risk of 1.8 show that the true risk may be twice the apparent risk with only 23% misclassification in each exposure group. The value of the true risk that would be necessary to be consistent with a given apparent risk increases rapidly as the extent of misclassification increases. We also show that, if the extent of misclassification is large, the apparent relative risk is close to 1.0 regardless of the actual value of the true risk. Therefore, a small apparent risk does not necessarily indicate that there is no occupational h

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190504

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractLung cancer mortality was studied during 1965‐1985 in Outokumpu township in North Karelia, where an old copper mine was located. Age‐specific lung cancer death rates (1968‐1985) were higher among the male population of Outokumpu than among the North Karelian male population of the same age excluding the Outokumpu district (p ≤ .01). Of all 106 persons who died from lung cancer during 1965‐1985 in Outokumpu township, 47 were miners of the old mine, 39 of whom had worked there for at least three years and been heavily exposed to radon daughters and silica dust. The study cohort consisted of 597 miners first employed between 1954 and 1973 by a new copper mine and a zinc mine, and employed there for at least 3 years. The period of follow‐up was 1954‐1986. The number of person‐years was 14,782. The total number of deaths was 102; the expected number was 72.8 based on the general male population and 97.8 based on the mortality of the male population of North Karelia. The excess mortality among miners was due mainly to ischemic heart disease (IHD); 44 were observed, the expected number was 22.1, based on the general male population, and the North Karelian expected number was 31.2 (p ≤ .05). Of the 44 miners who died from IHD, 20 were drillers or chargers exposed to nitroglycerin in dynamite charges, but also to several simultaneous stress factors including PAHs, noise, vibration, heavy work, accident risk, and working alone. Altogether 16 tumors were observed in the cohort. Ten of these were lung cancers, the expected number being 4.3. Miners who had died from lung cancer were 35‐64 years old, and had entered mining work between 1954 and 1960. Five of the ten lung cancer cases came from the zinc mine (1.7 expected). Three of them were conductors of diesel‐powered ore trains. The slight excess mortality from lung cancer could be explained by exposure to radon daughters and by the combined effect of silica dust and diesel exhaust g

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190505

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractFiberoptic bronchoscopy has permitted the development of lavage procedures for the collection of lung washes. In certain disease states this material may contain large numbers of phagocytic cells (macrophages and neutrophils). Since these phagocytes are the predominant “dust scavenger cells” in the lung, the assessment of their particulate burden as well as that of the overall lavage material has been suggested as a potentially important diagnostic tool. The studies to date have shown that the presence of ferruginous bodies is an indication of past occupational exposure.In the present study, a digestion procedure was carried out on bronchoalveolar lavage material collected from individuals who were occupationally exposed to asbestos and from samples obtained from the general population. The parameters used for distinguishing the source of these samples included both light microscopy assessment of the filters for the presence of ferruginous bodies and electron microscopic screening for the presence of uncoated fib

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190506

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractEpidemiological studies have indicated an increased incidence of carcinoma of the colon in asbestos workers. The present study evaluated the colon tissue asbestos burden, by light and electron microscopic analytic techniques, in patients with a history of occupational asbestos exposure and colon cancer. Asbestos fibers and/or asbestos bodies were present in colon tissue from 14 of 44 (31.8%) asbestos workers with colon carcinoma (range 142,199 to 15,231, 543 fibers/g/wet weight, mean 2,517,823). Chrysotile was identified in 9 patients and amosite in 3 patients. Both amosite and chrysotile were found in the colonic wall in one individual. Other forms of asbestos (e.g., crocidolite, tremolite, or anthophyllite) were not found. Asbestos fibers and asbestos bodies were not found in colon tissue from 20 control patients (colon carcinoma and no asbestos exposure). Asbestos fibers frequently enter and reside in the wall of the colon and are often intimately associated with tumor tissue at the site of colon carcinoma in workers with asbestos exposure and colon carcinoma.

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190507

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractWe investigated the feasibility of using hospital discharge diagnoses of ICD codes 506, 507, and 508, respiratory diseases from external sources, to identify occupational sentinel health events [SHE(O)]. Two hundred sixty‐nine records were reviewed and 66 (25%) were incidents where the work‐relatedness of the respiratory diseases was documented in the medical records. Twenty‐six percent of the 269 records contained no exposure information. Sixty‐four of the 66 occupational cases were from ICD codes 506.0‐506.9, with the largest number classified as ICD codes 506.0 (bronchitis and pneumonitis due to fumes and vapors) and 506.3 (other acute and subacute respiratory conditions due to fumes and vapors). We conclude that surveillance of ICD codes in the 506 series, where 39% of the cases were secondary to occupational exposures, is a valuable component of a surveillance system for preventable occupational lun

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190508

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractNear the end of the data‐collection phase of a case‐control interview study of environmental factors and childhood brain tumors, an unusual space‐time cluster was revealed. Not only had six genetically unrelated children been diagnosed with a primary intracranial tumor in a recent 2.4 year period in a rural county in Ohio, but each child had one parent employed by the same company (two mothers, four fathers). This represents an observed/expected ratio>70 (p<0.001). All tumors were microscopically confirmed, and all case parents worked at the facility in question for at least 1 year prior to conception, during the index pregnancy, and for at least 6 months after birth. The place of parental employment was an electronics firm (Standard Industrial Classification [SIC] group number 367, electronic components and accessories), where more than 100 chemical compounds are used by the company in a manufacturing process. Results of the cluster investigation are described, including a description of the case series. This cancer cluster is unique in that the index case series is composed of the offspring of workers, not the workers thems

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190509

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis case‐referent study assesses occupational risk factors associated with lung cancer, utilizing colon and rectum cancer referents. Complete occupational and tobacco use histories were obtained by telephone interview for 5,935 incident lung cancer cases and 3,956 incident colon and rectum cancer referents. The analysis included 43 usual occupational groups and 48 usual industry groups comprised of at least 10 cases. Among all cases, there were significant elevated risks for excavating and mining workers (OR = 4.01), furnace workers (OR = 3.11), armed services personnel (OR = 3.10), agricultural workers (OR = 2.05), driver sales (OR = 2.21), mechanics (OR = 1.72), painters (OR = 1.96), and drivers (OR = 1.88). Industries with significant elevated lung cancer risk included farming (OR = 2.21), mining (OR = 2.98), and primary ferrous metals manufacturing (OR = 2.43). Analyses of white and black men separately revealed that the excess of lung cancer among mechanics is restricted to black males (OR = 4.16). The risk of lung cancer among armed services personnel is higher among black men (OR = 10.54) than among white men (OR = 3.06). Five of the occupations observed more often among lung cancer cases have probable exposure to diesel exhaus

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190510

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700190511

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY