The European Community Directive on Working Time, which should have been implemented in member states of the European Community by November 1996, contains several requirements related to working hours, including the right of employees to refuse to work more than 48 hours a week. The United Kingdom government attempted to oppose the Directive, arguing that there is no convincing evidence that hours of work should be limited on health and safety grounds. Much of the research in this area has focused on the problems of shiftworking and previous reviews have therefore tended to emphasise this aspect of working hours. However, there is much less information about the effects of overtime work, which is a central element of the terms of the Directive. This paper reviews the current evidence relating to the potential effects on health and performance of extensions to the normal working day. Several
In the last decade children’s blood lead levels have fallen significantly in a number of countries, and current mean levels in developed countries are in the region of 3 μg/dL. Despite this reduction, childhood lead poisoning continues to be a major public health problem for certain at-risk groups of children, and concerns remain over the effects of lead on intellectual development in infants and children. The evidence for lowered cognitive ability in children exposed to lead has come largely from prospective epidemiologic studies. The current World Health Organization/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blood level of concern reflects this and stands at 10 μg/dL. However, a recent study on a cohort of children whose lifetime peak blood levels were consistently < 10 μg/dL has extended the association of blood lead and intellectual impairment to lower levels of lead exposure and suggests there is no safety margin at existing exposures. Because of the importance of this finding, we reviewed this study in detail along with other recent developments in the field of low-level lead exposure and children’s cognitive development. We conclude that these findings are important scientifically, and efforts should continue to reduce childhood exposure. However, from a public health perspective, exposure to lead should be seen within the many other risk factors impacting on normal childhood development, in particular the influence of the learning environment itself. Current lead exposure accounts for a very small amount of variance in cognitive ability (1–4%), whereas social and parenting factors account for 40% or more.
The use of pesticides in Ghanaian agriculture, though beneficial in reducing crop loss both before and after harvest, has been associated with threats to human health often due to the misapplication of the chemicals. This study was an initial attempt to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of 123 farm workers on three irrigation project areas in the Accra Plains, Ghana, regarding the safe handling and use of pesticides, to assess the prevalence of symptoms associated with organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) and carbamates and to determine the prevalence of pesticide-related symptoms, and blood cholinesterase. The study design was cross-sectional in type. Methods used were interviews and observation, and biological monitoring. The results revealed moderate levels of knowledge of the routes of absorption of pesticides and of potential symptoms following exposure. Knowledge of personal protective measures was poor to moderate. High risk practices included frequent handling of the chemicals, home storage of pesticides and short re-entry intervals. Despite knowledge of some health risks associated with pesticides, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was minimal due primarily to financial constraints. The prevalence of symptoms was higher and cholinesterase levels lower than in a control group of teachers. It is suggested that there is a need for more epidemiologic studies to investigate the problems associated with pesticide induced ill health as well as research into appropriate and affordable PPE. PPE needs to be subsidized. Training of agriculture and health workers in safety precautions, recognition, and management of pesticide-related ill health is a matter of urgency.
Many occupational and environmental health hazards present as an increased reporting of non-specific symptoms such as headache, backache, eye and respiratory irritation, tiredness, memory problems, and poor concentration. The pattern and number of such symptoms is surprisingly constant from hazard to hazard suggesting that common psychological and social factors, not directly related to the exposure may be involved. A recent workshop (see acknowledgements) was held to review the pattern of symptoms in varying hazardous situations and the psychological mechanisms behind the genesis and maintenance of symptoms. The involvement of both direct physicochemical and psychological mechanisms in symptom generation and reporting in any situation was discussed and is reported here. A model that identifies the issues that need to be considered in any epidemiological study based on the incidence or prevalence of non-specific symptoms is proposed. Institute of
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