摘要:

AbstractThe purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of perchloroethylene (PCE) exposure on human semen quality. We compared the semen quality of 34 dry cleaners with that of 48 laundry workers. We examined the relationships of 17 semen parameters to expired air levels of PCE and to an index of exposure based on job tasks in the last three months. The average sperm concentration was over 80 million for both dry cleaners and laundry workers, but approximately one‐quarter of each group was oligospermic. The overall percentage of abnormal forms was similar for the two groups; however, sperm of dry cleaners were significantly more likely to be round (t = −3.29, p = 0.002) and less likely to be narrow (t = 2.35, p = 0.02) than the sperm of laundry workers. These effects were dose‐related to expired air levels and to the exposure index after controlling for potential confounders (e.g., heat exposure). The average percent motile sperm for both groups was slightly over 60%; however, sperm of dry cleaners tended to swim with greater amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) than those of laundry workers (t = −1.73, p = 0.09), and level of PCE in expired air was a significant predictor of ALH in the multiple regression model (t = 2.00, p = 0.05). In addition, exposure index was a significant negative predictor of the sperm linearity parameter (t = −2.57, p = 0.01). These results suggest that occupational exposures to PCE can have subtle effects on sperm quality. Additional analyses are required to determine whether these effects are associated with changes in

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200502

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe purpose of this investigation was to compare the reproductive outcomes of wives of men exposed to perchloroethylene in the dry‐cleaning industry compared to those of wives of laundry workers. Seventeen female partners of dry cleaners and 32 partners of laundry workers were interviewed. The number of pregnancies and the standardized fertility ratios were similar between the two groups. Wives of dry cleaners did not have higher rates of spontaneous abortions. However, wives of dry cleaners were more than twice as likely to have a history of attempting to become pregnant for more than 12 months or to have sought care for an infertility problem. Cox proportional hazards models indicated that dry‐cleaners' wives had half of the per‐cycle pregnancy rate of wives of laundry workers, when controlling for other potential confounders (estimated rate ratio of 0.54, 95% C.I. = 0.23,

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200503

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractPerchloroethylene (PCE) is a widely used dry cleaning and degreasing solvent. Although there is evidence in animals and humans for renal effects at extremely high doses, there are few studies of its potential renal toxicity at typical occupational concentrations. This study reports on the relationship of PCE in breath and estimates of chronic exposure with the urinary ratios of total urinary protein, albumin, and n‐acetyl‐glucosaminidase (NAG) to creatinine in dry cleaning workers exposed to PCE. Regression models including one or more exposure variables, demographic variables, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), and the presence of diseases affecting kidney function were examined.Urine samples, breath samples, exposure histories, and medical histories were obtained from 192 dry cleaning workers. The results failed to demonstrate any consistent relationship between exposure and renal outcome variables. However, protein/creatinine and albumin/creatinine were significantly, although weakly and positively, associated with MAP; NAG/creatinine was weakly but significantly positively associated with age; mean NAG/creatinine was also higher in non‐whites. The reasons why an association between exposure and renal outcome was not found are disc

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200504

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSelection bias is inherent in all occupational cohorts. Selection bias at entry has long been known and is commonly referred to as a “healthy worker effect.” Less well appreciated is selection during the life of a cohort resulting from life‐style factors (e.g., cigarette smoking); aging with accompanying chronic diseases, economic and demographic circumstances; and diseases that might result from exposures suffered by the cohort being studied, that influence whether individuals remain in a trade. These factors weigh differently at different times. Thus, at any point in time, “surviving” members of a cohort reflect an amalgam of selection factors. When such groups are studied in cross‐sectional surveys there can be uncertainty whether clinical, radiological and phyeiological findings are necessarily representative for the trade or occupation as a whole. We analyzed the results of a large clinical field survey of long‐term asbestos insulation workers to investigate whether the non‐participants differed substantially from those who were examined. Five thousand three hundred and fifty‐five (5,355) men, of an initial cohort of 17,800 established January 1, 1967, had reached 30 or more years from onset of their work by July 1, 1981. All were invited to come for examination. Two thousand and seventy‐seven (2,077) came, and 3,278 did not. We questioned a sample of 1,393 non‐responders to see why they failed to appear. The answers did not give evidence of significant health‐related selection influence. Sickness only infrequently kept them away. We then followed both groups—those examined and those not examined—to the end of 1987 for their mortality experience. There was no great difference. The non‐responders had somewhat fewer deaths overall and proportionately fewer of asbestos‐associated cancers, such as mesothelioma and lung cancer. The results indicated that, in this cohort, there did not seem to be health‐related selection bias that determined whether or not cohort members responde

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200505

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a revised 8‐hour permissible exposure limit (PEL) for cadmium in air of either 1 or 5 μg/m3, based upon the prevention of lung cancer and kidney dysfunction. To evaluate the scientific basis for these alternative standards, we compare the OSHA estimates of risk, derived from mathematical modelling of selected studies, to empirical data on lung cancer and kidney dysfunction in the published literature. At least seven epidemiologic studies examine renal tubular proteinuria by cumulative cadmium exposure. Three suggest increased proteinuria at cumulative exposures below 500 μg/m3‐year (equivalent to a PEL of 11.1 μg/m3over 45 working years). One shows prevalence increasing at cumulative exposures between 100 and 299 μg/m3(equivalent to a PEL between 2.2 and 6.6 μg/m3). Insufficient data exist to estimate a no‐effect level for kidney toxicity. For lung cancer, qualitative evidence of carcinogenicity in humans is seen in four of five occupational cohorts. Quantitative estimates of risk based on epidemiologic data provide lower and more plausible estimates of lifetime risk than do estimates from a rodent bioassay. The data overall suggest that the PEL for cadmium should not exceed 5 μg/m3to protect workers from kidney dysfunction and lung cancer over a worki

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200506

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractFrom 1980 to 1985, the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program, and since 1986, the Australian Mesothelioma Register, have been collecting data on all cases of malignant mesothelioma that could be ascertained in Australia. Incidence rates were calculated on 854 Program and 696 Register cases (total 1271) diagnosed in Australia between January 1, 1982 and December 31, 1988. Australia has one of the highest national rates of mesothelioma in the world (15.8 cases per million of population aged 20 years and older), and the rate is rising. The rate is far higher in males (28.3) than females (3.3). The Western Australian rate (28.9) is the highest among the states, as may be expected because of the crocidolite mine at Wittenoom; however, the largest numbers of cases occur in the more populous and industrial New South Wales. The high incidence rate, its expected continuing increase, and absence of a history of exposure to asbestos in approximately 28% of cases, demand consideration of potential environmental factors other than asbestos in the causation of this tumor, as well as continued surveillance.

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200507

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe expense of collecting primary data, coupled with limited authority to mandate reporting, requires alternative methods of implementing an occupational disease registry in Illinois. One alternative data source for surveillance of some occupational diseases is hospital discharge records. Because these records lack personal identifiers, it has been impossible historically to match records belonging to the same individual and obtain reliable case estimates. To circumvent this difficulty, an algorithm has been developed to match anonymous hospital discharge records collected from all Illinois hospitals. The algorithm was based on the assumption that specific combinations of occupational disease code, sex, zip code, and date of birth would identify an individual to whom multiple hospitalizations belong. Matching with the algorithm reduced the 1986 case estimates from 597 to 499 for all cases of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, and silicosis.

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200508

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractQuantitative assessment of the autonomic neurotoxicity due to lead was undertaken by measuring variability in the electrocardiographic R‐R interval (CVRR) in 16 male workers exposed to lead, zinc, copper, and tin and in 16 unexposed control subjects. Two component coefficients of variation in the R‐R interval, the C‐CVRSA(respiratory sinus arrhythmia) and C‐CVMWSA(Mayer wave related sinus arrhythmia), were examined; these indices are considered to reflect parasympathetic and sympathetic activities, respectively. Maximal motor and sensory conduction velocities (MCV and SCV) in the median nerve were also measured. In the 16 exposed workers, blood lead concentrations ranged from 16 to 60 (mean 34) pg/dl. The CVRRand C‐CVRSAwere found to be significantly reduced in the workers with elevated lead, zinc, and copper absorption as compared to unexposed control subjects; also, the MCV and SCV were significantly slowed. The C‐CVMWSAwas not significantly reduced, and was positively related to plasma zinc concentrations. No significant relationships were found between indicators of lead and copper absorption and these electrophysiological measurements. These data suggest that subclinical toxicity of lead occurs in the parasympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system as well as in the peripheral nerves. Zinc may antagonize the autonomic nervous dysfunction cau

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200509

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractWe carried out a prevalence survey of pulmonary health parameters among current and retired construction insulators (50 years old and older) from all areas of British Columbia, Canada. The study population included 59 active workers (81 percent participation in this group) and 29 workers who were retired or inactive due to illness (69% participation). Radiograph results were compared to those from actively working bus mechanics from the same age group, and retired grain and civic workers, who were all tested in the same manner. Chest radiographs were read independently by two readers and were graded according to the ILO classification system. Pleural abnormalities alone were found in 34% (20) of active workers (5% in comparison group) and 45% (13) of non‐active workers (14% in comparison group). Rates for parenchymal abnormalities for these same groups (ILO grade 1/0 or higher) were 17% (5%) and 20% (5%), respectively. Airflow obstruction was present in 35% (31) of the insulators and was associated with age and the presence of diffuse pleural thickening, and 5 or more years of employment in pulp mills. Restrictive lung function was present in 22% (19) of the insulator population and was associated with age and radiographic evidence of parenchymal fibrosis. The results indicate that construction insulators, a group at high risk for asbestos‐related lung disease, also have a high prevalence of airflow obstruction. This was associated not only with smoking, but also with diffuse pleural thickening and a history of pulp‐mill employment, suggesting that airflow obstruction in this population is also partly work re

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200510

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractLiterature published in the years 1934–1965 was reviewed to determine attitudes and opinions of scientists as to whether asbestos is a cause of cancer. In Germany, the issue was decided in 1943 when the government decreed that lung cancer, when associated with asbestosis (of any degree), was an occupational disease. In the United States, however, there was no consensus on the issue until 1964. Opinions of scientists over a 22 year period are shown and the contributions of various cultural, social, economic and political factors to these opinions are discussed. A lack of experimental and epidemiological evidence played a major role in delaying a consensus. Other important factors included a rejection of science conducted outside of the U.S. during this period, particularly a rejection of German scientific thought during and after WWII, and a rejection of clinical evidence in favor of epidemiological investigations. Individual writers rarely changed their minds on the subject of asbestos as a cause of cance

ISSN:0271-3586    

DOI:10.1002/ajim.4700200511

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

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY