Occupational Exposure to Manganese‐containing Welding Fumes and Pulmonary Function Indices among Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Welders: Hamid HASSANI, et al. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran—
Objectives
The objectives of this study were to evaluate manganese (Mn)‐containing welding fumes' exposure, assess urinary Mn as a biomarker for Mn exposure and investigate the correlation of Mn in air, total fumes and urinary Mn with pulmonary function indices in 118 welders and 37 unexposed controls from two regions in Iran, Assaluyeh and Borujen.
Methods
Air samples were collected on mixed cellulose ester membrane filters in personal air samplers and then analyzed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP‐AES) (NIOSH Method 7300). For all participants, urine samples were collected during the entire work shift, and Mn in urine was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy according to NIOSH Method 8310. Spirometric measurements were also done for participants.
Results
The maximum exposures to airborne Mn and total fumes were 0.304 ± 0.256 mg/m3and 21.52 ± 9.40 mg/m3, respectively. The urine Mn levels in the various groups ranged between 0.77 to 7.58 µg/l. The correlation between airborne Mn and urinary Mn was significant for total whole participants. Some values of spirometric indices were statistically lower in welders rather than controls.
Conclusions
Our results indicate that many welders have been exposed to higher concentrations of Mn‐containing welding fumes. Urinary Mn can be used as a biomarker for Mn exposure. There were weak inverse correlations between Mn‐containing welding fumes and pulmonary function indices, and the inverse correlation between urinary Mn with forced vital capacities (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was significant.
Background: Sleep disorders and excessive daytime sleepiness negatively affect employees' safety performance. Objective: To investigate the relationship between excessive daytime sleepiness with obstructive sleep apnea and safety performance at an oil construction company in Iran. Methods: 661 employees consented to participate in this study. Excessive daytime sleepiness was measured with the STOP-BANG questionnaire and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). To determine how sleepiness would affect the studied occupational incidents, accidents causing injury and near misses, both reactive data and proactive safety performance indices were measured. Demographic and predictor variables were analyzed with hierarchical multiple linear regression. Results: Employees who met the criteria of excessive daytime sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea had significantly poorer safety performance indicators. STOP-BANG and ESS were significant predictors of safety compliance (β 0.228 and 0.370, respectively), safety participation (β 0.210 and 0.144, respectively), and overall safety behavior (β 0.332 and 0.213, respectively). Further, occupational incidents were 2.5 times higher in workers with indicators of excessive daytime sleepiness and 2 times higher in those with obstructive sleep apnea compared with those without. Conclusion: These findings confirmed that excessive daytime sleepiness is a serious safety hazard, and that both reactive and proactive measures are important to understand the relative contribution of predictor variables.
Preventive programs should be implemented for industrial workers, especially young workers, workers who smoke, overweight workers and workers with psychosomatic disease.
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