Exposure to wood dust and endotoxin in small-scale wood industries in Tanzania

Abstract

Workers in small-scale wood industries (SSWI) have increased risks of developing asthma and other respiratory diseases. Wood dust and microbial agents have both been suggested to play a role, but few studies have measured endotoxin exposure in SSWI in Africa. We assessed inhalable dust levels in 281 samples from 115 workers and bacterial endotoxins levels in 157 samples from 136 workers from SSWI in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The overall geometric mean of personal exposure was 3.3 mg/m 3 ; geometric standard deviation (GSD) 2.5; range 0.45-67.0 mg/m 3 ) and 91 EU/m 3 (GSD 3.7; range 9-4914.8 EU/m 3 ) for wood dust and endotoxins, respectively. Dust and endotoxin levels were weakly correlated (r ¼ 0.44, n ¼ 157, Po0.0001). Betweenand within-worker variances and percentages explained by the differences among job titles and seasons were 0.31 (9%) and 0.35 (30%), respectively, for wood dust exposure, and 0.35 (0%) and 0.35 (38%) for endotoxin exposure. Higher dust and endotoxin exposure levels were observed in the dry compared to the wet season, after correcting for differences in exposure between jobs. Carving and manual cleaning were associated with the highest dust exposures. Sewing seat covers and manual cleaning were associated with the highest endotoxin exposures. Dust and endotoxin exposure levels in SSWI are high and appropriate control measures are necessary.

Health risk related to chemicals used in small scale industries in the informal sector in Dar es Salaam

“…When the duration of work of the workers in SSI was compared among those who had worked for less or more than 10 years, it was found that there was no difference in handling chemicals. It is documented that the more the duration of exposure, the more the workers were likely to feel the symptoms of occupation diseases (4)(5). The results of this study seem not support findings in literature.…”

“…Wet paint is also known to cause allergy and other health problems. People exposed to wet paint developed problems such as occupational asthma, rhinitis and dermatoses (3)(4)(5). Long term exposure to solvents has been shown to be associated with sinunasal cancer (6)(7)(8).…”

Endotoxin Exposure Assessment in Wood-Processing Industry: Airborne Versus Settled Dust Levels

“…The infl uence of sampling methods, transport conditions, and methods of extraction and analysis must also be taken into account (12). Most of these studies found endotoxin levels to exceed exposure limits (13)(14)(15)(16)(17) and were similar to our results for endotoxin in airborne dust in similar sampling conditions (wet wood processing over the summer). Low endotoxin levels (18) and Swedish (19) sawmills.…”

Smoking and Hemorrhagic Stroke Mortality in a Prospective Cohort Study of Older Chinese

“…However, the smoking epidemic in China is at an earlier stage than that in Hong Kong, by ≈20 years, or the United States, by ≈40 years. 27 Smokers in mainland China tend to have a shorter duration of smoking and to have smoked less daily, and the estimates from mainland China may not represent the full effects of smoking 28 including hundreds of toxins that promote the development of free radicals, causing vascular endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Structural damage to the arterial wall may also play a role in the development of hemorrhagic stroke.…”