This study investigated the occupational exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) of a group of blast furnace workers from an integrated steelworks, compared to a control group having no significant occupational CO exposure from other areas in the same works. The study was undertaken in 1984 at Port Kembla, New South Wales. Carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) levels before and after an eight-hour work shift were measured in 98 male steelworkers: 52 from two CO-exposed iron blast furnaces and 46 controls from production areas in the same steelworks. The sample was stratified by smoking habits. Environmental air CO levels had been found to be consistently higher on one furnace than on the other. Absorption of CO from the working environment occurred in workers on the blast furnace with higher CO levels, regardless of smoking habits. On this blast furnace, some readings of COHb levels after a workshift in nonsmokers approached the proposed Australian occupational limit of 5 per cent COHb saturation. Overall, workers with the highest occupational exposure who smoked most heavily had the highest absorption of CO over a work shift. Biological monitoring gives an accurate measure of individual worker 'dose' of CO from all sources. Both environmental monitoring and biological monitoring need to be included as part of a program for controlling occupational CO exposure. (Aust J Public Health 1992; 16: 262-8) ccupational exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) is a widespread industrial hazard, 0 occurring in processes where incomplete combustion of carbon-containing materials takes place.' The health effects of carbon monoxide are described in detail elsewhere.' Briefly, CO binds to haemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb), competitively displacing oxygen and impairing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. It also affects enzyme systems involved in cellular respiration, for example the cytochrome P-450 system. Thus the organs most vulnerable to the effects of CO are those with a high metabolic demand for oxygen-the heart and the central nervous system. At similar COHb levels the fetus is also vulnerable for the same reason. Control of CO emissions is also important for climate modification, as CO can increase the concentration of several important greenhouse gases, and there is evidence now of a global increase in CO level^.:^.^ At present, the standard biological monitoring measure for CO exposure is percentage saturation of r e d b l o o d cell haemoglobin with carboxyhaemoglobin (per cent COHb). This measure correlates well with exposure, rising with increasing concentration and duration of exposure until a steady state is r e a~h e d .~The current Australian standard for occupational CO exposure is 50 parts per million (ppm) as an
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