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Abstract

5 degrees C-water 10-minute immersion test, generally used in Japan, is useful to diagnose vibration diseases. But severe pains during the immersion is troublesome. We studied the availability of 10 degrees C-water 10-minute immersion test to reduce the pain during the test. Subjects were forty-nine chainsaw operators, nineteen patients with vibration disease, and twelve controls. The same subject underwent both 5 degrees C and 10 degrees C immersion tests. The following results were obtained. 1) Skin temperatures in the highest score group after the immersion tests both at 5 degrees C and 10 degrees C was lower than that in the control group. Mean skin temperatures for the last five minutes during the immersion and the recovery activity in both the immersion tests showed a similar trend among subjects groups. Skin temperatures in patients under medical treatment (R'group) did not differ from those in the control group. 2) Hyperemia time by nail press test in the R'group and in the high score group after both immersion tests was longer than that in the control group. But this difference between chainsaw operators and the control group after 5 degrees C immersion test was more marked than that after 10 degrees C immersion test. 3) Vibratory sense as well as pain sense in the R'group and in the high score group after both immersion tests were less sharp than those in the control group. 4) Skin temperatures, nail press test, vibratory sense, and pain sense after 5 degrees C immersion test and those after 10 degrees C immersion test showed statistically significant positive correlation. 5) 10 degrees C immersion test is as effective as 5 degrees C immersion test in finding nervous disorders, but 5 degrees C immersion test is more effective than 10 degrees C immersion test in finding circulatory disorders. However patients with Raynaud's phenomena or moderate circulatory disorders can also be found even by 10 degrees C immersion test. 6) Cold water immersion test revealed disorders not only in skin temperature and by nail press test but revealed also disorders in vibratory sense and pain sense, therefore it is desirable that cold water immersion test should be done in the examination of vibration diseases.

Hand-arm vibration syndrome and dose-response relation for vibration induced white finger among quarry drillers and stonecarvers. Italian Study Group on Physical Hazards in the Stone Industry.

“…The log odds of risk of VWF associated with vibration exposure was also estimated with A(8) and duration of exposure as quantitative predictor variables (fig 1). The logistic model including linear terms for each of A (8) and duration of exposure achieved an excellent goodness of fit (Hosmer-Lemeshow x2 = 2-295, degrees of freedom = 8, P = 0-97 1). The specific test for curvature in the regression line was not significant (P = 0343 for the quadratic effect of A(8) and P = 0-149 for the quadratic effect of duration of exposure).…”

“…Tests for data transformations suggested a linear model in which the ln transformed prevalence of VWF was regressed on In A (8) and in duration of exposure (adjusted R2 = 0-908, fig 2 and table 9). According to the exposure data of this study, the estimated regression equation indicates that the expected percentage of stone workers affected with VWF tends to increase roughly in proportion to the square root of A(8) (for a par- Duration of exposure (y) Figure 2 Expected occurrence ofvibration induced white finger (FIEF) among the stone workers operating vibrating tools, as estimated by regression ofthe log (In) transformed VZF prevalence (y) on log A (8) (8 h frequency weighted energy equivalent acceleration, x, in mls2) and log duration ofvibration exposure (x2 in y): 1ny = 1 0266 + 0 4747 (In xd + 0-535 (In x2)…”

“…With regard to this subject, the EC Commission has recently suggested exposure levels for hand transmitted vibration within a proposal of directive for the protection of workers from the risks arising from physical agents. 30 In the proposal of directive the methods of measurement and assessment of vibration exposure are basically derived from BS 6842,18 and the exposure levels are expressed in terms of A (8). The threshold level is established at 1 m/s2, the action level at 2-5 m/s2, and the ceiling level at 5 m/s2.…”

“…A personal review of the available scientific literature showed that in the last 80 years about 20 epidemiological surveys of vibration induced disorders among stone workers have been performed. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Italy produces more stone than any other country in the world (7-2 million tons in 1991). In Italy great varieties of ornamental stones such as marble, travertine, porphyry, granite, and serpentine are excavated in the quarries and processed in the mills.…”