Occupational Exposure and Health Impairments of Formaldehyde on Employees of a Wood Industry

Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Rahimi, Abolfazl; Omidi, Leila; Behzadi, Mohammad Hassan; Rajabi, Mohammad Hassan

doi:10.15171/hpp.2015.035

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In accordance with this study, Jafari et al (2015) conducted case-control study at North Wood Factory, northern Iran, and revealed that the prevalence of eye, nasal, and throat irritation symptoms among exposed workers was significantly higher than the prevalence of irritation symptoms in the control group (Jafari et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Health disorders and safety measures among workers in Tanta Flax and Oil Company, Egypt

EL-Feky

Kabbash

Zayet

et al. 2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flax industry has an adverse effect on health status of exposed workers especially in developing countries with lack of appropriate safety measures to identify the health hazards, health disorders among workers in flax and oil company, and to assess the applied safety measures in the factory. A cross sectional study was conducted in Tanta Flax and Oil Company in Egypt . The company includes eight factories which are divided into four departments according to the manufacturing end products. The study was conducted from August 2018 to December 2019 on 353 workers out of 400 workers. An interview questionnaire and clinical medical examination were done to assess the health status of exposed workers. Check list from occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) standards was filled by researcher to check safety measures in work place environment. Respiratory manifestations were detected in 65% of the examined workers in flax manufacturing departments while allergic manifestations were more obvious in formaldehyde factory department. Approximately one quarter of workers complained that personal protective equipment’s are not available. Regarding the mask for dust, nearly half (44.5%) of the workers rarely used them, and only 7.1% always use them. Byssinosis was obvious among workers in flax manufacturing and particle board manufacturing department with statistically significant differences between the four departments, in which 36.9% and 24.1% of workers in these two departments suffered from chest tightness, respectively. The safety measures were inadequate in flax manufacturing departments and to somewhat sufficient in formaldehyde factory department. Most of exposed workers had inadequate health status due to lack of standard safety measures. Therefore, periodic medical examination should be done regularly with investigation of pulmonary functions of exposed workers with application of high level of safety measure standards in the work place environment.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Health disorders and safety measures among workers in Tanta Flax and Oil Company, Egypt

EL-Feky

Kabbash

Zayet

et al. 2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Work in the wood industry is associated with exposure to wood dust [4–11], and in the particleboard industry the workers might also be exposed to formaldehyde from glue resin [12–14]. Exposure to wood dust may cause acute irritation of the skin, eyes and airways [15, 16] and may also be associated with chronic respiratory symptoms [16–18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and practice related to chemical hazards and personal protective equipment among particleboard workers in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Work in the wood industry is often associated with exposure to wood dust and formaldehyde. The aims of this study were to describe the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) concerning chemical health hazards among particleboard workers and to compare the KAP among temporary and permanent workers. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data by structured questionnaires in two particleboard factories in Ethiopia. A total of 159 workers and 13 management personnel participated in this study. Both closed-ended and open-ended questions were included in the interviews. Chi-square tests, T tests and correlation analyses were used for categorical and continuous data. Total knowledge score (range 0–8) was calculated as the sum score of 8 items weighing one point each. Multiple linear regression was applied to estimate the impact of employment status on total knowledge score adjusted for level of education. Content analysis was applied to analyse collected data from open-ended questions. Results The mean age of the respondents was 28 ( SD = 6) years and on average they had 3.7 [3] years of service. The permanent workers were older than the temporary workers (29 vs 26 years, p = 0.001), and a considerably high fraction of the permanent workers had vocational education (90%) compared to the temporary workers (11%). Permanent workers had higher proportion of response on knowledge of 10 of 12 topics regarding chemical hazards and attitudes on 6 of 11 of these topics than temporary workers. Permanent workers had higher knowledge scores (3.7) compared to temporary workers (1.3) ( p < 0.001), also after adjusting for education ( p = 0.011). Permanent workers were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) while temporary workers were not. The qualitative data helps to understand the workers and administrative personnel attitude and thinking regarding chemical hazards and PPE. Conclusions The findings revealed that permanent workers have higher proportion of positive response on knowledge and attitude towards chemical health hazards than temporary workers. However, practice in use of PPE depended on access to PPE. Few temporary workers were provided with PPE. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6807-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

“…We are not aware of any other published data on such worst-case measurements of formaldehyde in particleboard industries. Full-shift measurements of formaldehyde in wood processing industries ranged from 0.5 to 1.52 ppm in Iran 34) and from 0.02 to 2.2 ppm in Turkey 35) , while mean area concentration of formaldehyde varied from 0.03 mg/m 3 to 0.31 mg/m 3 in Finland 36) . In an American study, short term formaldehyde level varied from 0.28 to 3.48 ppm 5) , and a geometric mean of 0.06 ppm was recorded in New Zealand 37) .…”

Section: Environmental and Occupational Health Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to inhalable dust, endotoxin and formaldehyde in factories processing particleboards from eucalyptus trees in Ethiopia

Asgedom

Bråtveit

Schlünssen

et al. 2020

EOH-P

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Eucalyptus trees are used in the particleboard wood industry in Ethiopia. Dust and chemicals from this production may cause respiratory health problems, but the exposure levels have not been studied previously. The aim of this study was to assess workers' exposure to inhalable dust, endotoxin, and formaldehyde in the two largest particleboard factories in Ethiopia, and compare the results with occupational exposure limits. Methods: A total of 152 inhalable dust and endotoxin samples were collected using a conductive plastic inhalable conical sampler (CIS), in addition to 45 formaldehyde samples using Dräger tubes for collection in two particleboard factories in Ethiopia. Linear mixed models were used to identify exposure determinants. Results: The geometric mean (GM) of inhalable dust exposure was 4.66 mg/m 3 and 93% of the samples were above the threshold limit value of 1 mg/ m 3 . For endotoxin exposure GM was 62.2 EU/m 3 , and 41% of samples were above the recommended occupational limit value of 90 EU/m 3 . Formaldehyde was added in a blending section of the production line, and the formaldehyde level was highest here (3.5 ppm). The level decreased at the workstations following blending, and 13% of the formaldehyde samples were above the peak exposure limit value of 1.0 ppm. Conclusions: The findings revealed exposure levels higher than recommended for inhalable dust, endotoxin, and formaldehyde in the particleboard factories. A reduction in dust, endotoxin, and formaldehyde exposure levels in these workplaces is recommended. We also recommend provision of proper personal protective equipment.

show abstract

Occupational Exposure and Health Impairments of Formaldehyde on Employees of a Wood Industry

Abstract: Background: Occupational exposure to formaldehyde may decrease white blood cell counts and change blood concentration. In this study, the influences of occupational exposure to formaldehyde on the number of white blood cells and blood concentrations were studied.

Cited by 14 publications

References 22 publications

Health disorders and safety measures among workers in Tanta Flax and Oil Company, Egypt

Health disorders and safety measures among workers in Tanta Flax and Oil Company, Egypt

Knowledge, attitude and practice related to chemical hazards and personal protective equipment among particleboard workers in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Exposure to inhalable dust, endotoxin and formaldehyde in factories processing particleboards from eucalyptus trees in Ethiopia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About