Global review of studies on traffic police with special focus on environmental health effects

Abstract

Since occupation is a major determinant of health, traffic police personnel face multiple occupational hazards. They are continuously exposed to vehicular emissions and work in a noisy and polluted environment. The objective of the present review is to explore the impact of occupational health hazards on the health of traffic police personnel. Published research papers on traffic police reporting occupational health issues were accessed and reviewed. Attempts were made to access papers that reported negative associations in order to present a balanced review. The majority of the studies have reported a decrease in the lung function and increased respiratory morbidity. The research on the cytogenetic abnormalities or genotoxic effect of vehicular emissions arising due to long-term exposure to benzene and other polyaromatic hydrocarbons has provided conflicting results, since more or less equal numbers of studies have given evidence for and against the causal association. There is a vast accumulation of epidemiological evidence on the casual association between vehicular pollution and its carcinogenic effect. Multiple studies have concluded that traffic police are highly stressed. A number of occupational factors have been attributed to stress among traffic police. Occupational health studies help us to understand the effects of vehicular pollution and its adverse influence on workers. They also provide opportunity for defined exposures measurements and precise risk assessment. The findings from these studies are easily generalizable and can help us understand the impact of air pollution on the general population.

Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among Traffic police: A Review

“…1 Likewise the study done by Patel et al (2014) on "Global review of studies on Traffi c police with special focus on Environmental Health Eff ects" showed correlation between atmospheric pollution and some possible outcomes like ergonomic impact, damaged oral health, hearing loss, traffi c injuries, personal protective equipments (PPEs), reproductive eff ects in traffi c policemen wives, and vascular infl ammatory reactions in traffi c policemen. 36 Burton et al in 1996 revealed that physical stress as one of the occupational risk factors for low LBP among police offi cers managing traffi c which often leading to increased sickness absenteeism. 37 So, stress can be responsible for a number of physical symptoms, including muscle tension and back pain.…”

Effect of Air Lead Pollution on Blood Bilirubin and Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels among Occupationally Exposed Workers in Main Sudanese Cities

“…On contrast, the effect of environmental lead pollution and high blood lead level has not always yielded convincing positive results. Many studies have failed to detect increased blood lead levels among traffic police, even when the subjects were tested with a sophisticated electro-thermal atomic absorption spectrometer [28] . In our own opinion, the safety limit that was set for the maximum blood lead levels is not restrict and still controversial issue, Manser, et al [21] , reported that the upper limits for blood lead levels has been often quoted as 40 μg/dl for adults and 30 μg/dl for children, while 25 μg/dl blood lead regarded as elevated in U.S.A as adopted by CDC [6] , and the European Committee decided on a mean acceptable value of 20 μg/dl [9] .…”

Health problems and general anxiety among traffic police working in two major cities of Nepal

“…Therefore, in this study, our aim was to identify the common health problems and the factors associated with general anxiety among the tra c police working in Kathmandu and Lalitpur. We believe, this sort of occupational health studies would help us to understand occupational circumstances and their adverse in uence on health and wellbeing of tra c police [11].…”

“…In addition, tra c police are highly stressed due to their nature of work, work conditions and work surroundings, and a number of these occupational factors could attribute to general anxiety among tra c police [11]. There have no studies documented yet explaining health problems including general anxiety among Nepalese tra c police.…”