Annals of Occupational Hygiene

This study compared the response of two optical particle counters with that of an aerodynamic particle sizer. The optical particle counters rely on the amount of incident light scattered at 90 degrees by a particle to measure particle number concentration by optical particle size. Two models of optical particle counters from Grimm Technologies were used: the portable aerosol spectrometer (PAS) 1.108 (0.3-20 microm in 15 channels); and the PAS 1.109 (0.2-20 microm in 30 size channels). With a substantially different operating principle from that employed by the optical particle counters, the aerodynamic particle sizer (APS) model 3321 (TSI, Inc., St Paul, MN, USA) sizes particles according to their behavior in an accelerating flow to provide particle number concentration by aerodynamic size over a slightly narrower size range (0.5-20 microm) in 52 channels. The responses of these instruments were compared for three sizes of monodisperse solid aerosols composed of polystyrene latex spheres and a polydisperse aerosol composed of Arizona test dust. The PASs provided similar results to those from the APS. However, there were systematic differences among instruments in number and mass concentration measurement that depended upon particle size.

Thomas M. Peters

Darrin Ott

Patrick T. O'shaughnessy

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

Comparison of the Grimm 1.108 and 1.109 Portable Aerosol Spectrometer to the TSI 3321 Aerodynamic Particle Sizer for Dry Particles

Safety climate measurements can be used to proactively assess an organization's effectiveness in identifying and remediating work-related hazards, thereby reducing or preventing work-related ill health and injury. This review article focuses on construction-specific articles that developed and/or measured safety climate, assessed safety climate's relationship with other safety and health performance indicators, and/or used safety climate measures to evaluate interventions targeting one or more indicators of safety climate. Fifty-six articles met our inclusion criteria, 80% of which were published after 2008. Our findings demonstrate that researchers commonly defined safety climate as perception based, but the object of those perceptions varies widely. Within the wide range of indicators used to measure safety climate, safety policies, procedures, and practices were the most common, followed by general management commitment to safety. The most frequently used indicators should and do reflect that the prevention of work-related ill health and injury depends on both organizational and employee actions. Safety climate scores were commonly compared between groups (e.g. management and workers, different trades), and often correlated with subjective measures of safety behavior rather than measures of ill health or objective safety and health outcomes. Despite the observed limitations of current research, safety climate has been promised as a useful feature of research and practice activities to prevent work-related ill health and injury. Safety climate survey data can reveal gaps between management and employee perceptions, or between espoused and enacted policies, and trigger communication and action to narrow those gaps. The validation of safety climate with safety and health performance data offers the potential for using safety climate measures as a leading indicator of performance. We discuss these findings in relation to the related concept of safety culture and offer suggestions for future research and practice including (i) deriving a common definition of safety climate, (ii) developing and testing construction-specific indicators of safety climate, and (iii) focusing on construction-specific issues such as the transient workforce, subcontracting, work organization, and induction/acculturation processes.

Natalie V. Schwatka

Steven Hecker

Linda M. Goldenhar

ANNHYG

Defining and Measuring Safety Climate: A Review of the Construction Industry Literature

定义和测量安全氛围：建筑业文献综述

Kay Teschke

Ann Occup Hyg

Thinking about Occupation–Response and Exposure–Response Relationships: Vehicle Mechanics, Chrysotile, and Mesothelioma

职业–反应与暴露–反应关系思考：车辆机械师、温石棉与间皮瘤

We read with interest the article by van Oyen et al. (2015) relating to the production of a job-exposure matrix (AsbJEM) that allows lifetime occupational asbestos exposure to be estimated. We recently published an article highlighting a potential link between rising idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) mortality in the UK and historic national asbestos imports (Barber et al., 2016). We identified a strong correlation between mesothelioma and IPF annual mortality between 1968 and 2012 in both males and females. Although this may be entirely coincidental, our article suggested a proportion of IPF deaths may in fact be due to unrecognized asbestosis. The two conditions can be clinically and radiologically indistinguishable and so rely heavily on the exposure history provided by the patient in order to differentiate them (Barber and Fishwick, 2012), raising the possibility of missed or inaccurate diagnosis. The difficulty of accurately estimating an individual patient’s asbestos exposure was recognized some years ago in the Netherlands, leading to the development of a risk matrix based on job titles. This information was then used to produce stepwise decision trees for mesothelioma and asbestosis, now used to assess whether agreed thresholds of exposure are likely to have been reached by individual patients (Burdorf and Swuste, 1999). Our study concluded that a similar asbestos JEM should be developed for the UK, to facilitate more valid case–control studies of asbestos as a risk factor in IPF.

Our article referenced evidence from a case–control study of mesothelioma—published in 2009—that clearly demonstrated how common occupational asbestos exposure was historically among the working UK population (Rake et al., 2009). This study found that among 1420 age-matched controls (median age 58–68 years and randomly selected from Health Authority registers), 65% of men and 23% of women had worked in occupations that were classified as medium or high risk for asbestos exposure. Many of the male controls (1112 men) had worked in medium- or high-risk jobs for a significant duration of their employment—with 51, 42, and 28% having worked for at least 5, 10, and 20 years, respectively. Despite this, Rake et al. (2009) noted that many workers in medium-/high-risk exposure jobs were unable to provide a clear history of asbestos exposure. Possible explanations for this included the time elapsed since the exposure occurred, indirect exposure as a bystander, and handling materials that at the time were not identified as containing asbestos.

As well as the valuable data on lifetime mesothelioma risk in different UK occupations, the study by Rake et al. (2009) confirmed that a substantial number of men in the current UK general population (of the same age-group at risk of IPF) have had significant and prolonged asbestos exposure in previous jobs and that in some cases this may only be apparent by considering their job titles. As well as having clear research benefits, a UK asbestos JEM could also assist in the management of individual patients being assessed for anti-fibrotic drug treatments (currently only licensed in the UK for IPF) and in assessing eligibility for government benefits. Although we accept population JEMs cannot calculate exact lifetime doses for each individual patient (Kottek and Kilpatrick, 2016), we believe a UK model based on years worked in different job titles will offer a more standardized and objective estimate than current practice.

We wish to further highlight the possible link between asbestos exposure and IPF, and encourage van Oyen et al. (2015) to use their AsbJEM to carry out a case–control study of IPF in Australia. Hypothesizing a potential link between historic asbestos exposure and IPF has so far been controversial in the UK, and data from other countries would add greatly to the evidence base.

Christopher M. Barber

Ruth E. Wiggans

David Fishwick

Estimating Lifetime Asbestos Exposure in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

估计特发性肺纤维化患者一生中石棉暴露量

Welding fume is a complex mixture containing ultra-fine particles in the nanometer range. Rather than being in the form of a singular sphere, due to the high particle concentration, welding fume particles agglomerate into long straight chains, branches, or other forms of compact shapes. Understanding the transport and deposition of these nano-agglomerates in human respiratory systems is of great interest as welding fumes are a known health hazard. The neurotoxin manganese (Mn) is a common element in welding fumes. Particulate Mn, either as soluble salts or oxides, that has deposited on the olfactory mucosa in human nasal airway is transported along the olfactory nerve to the olfactory bulb within the brain. If this Mn is further transported to the basal ganglia of the brain, it could accumulate at the part of the brain that is the focal point of its neurotoxicity. Accounting for various dynamic shape factors due to particle agglomeration, the current computational study is focused on the exposure route, the deposition pattern, and the deposition efficiency of the inhaled welding fume particles in a realistic human nasal cavity. Particular attention is given to the deposition pattern and deposition efficiency of inhaled welding fume agglomerates in the nasal olfactory region. For particles in the nanoscale, molecular diffusion is the dominant transport mechanism. Therefore, Brownian diffusion, hydrodynamic drag, Saffman lift force, and gravitational force are included in the model study. The deposition efficiencies for single spherical particles, two kinds of agglomerates of primary particles, two-dimensional planar and straight chains, are investigated for a range of primary particle sizes and a range of number of primary particles per agglomerate. A small fraction of the inhaled welding fume agglomerates is deposited on the olfactory mucosa, approximately in the range 0.1-1%, and depends on particle size and morphology. The strong size dependence of the deposition in olfactory mucosa on particle size implies that the occupation deposition of welding fume manganese can be expected to vary with welding method.

Lin Tian

Kiao Inthavong

Göran Lidén

Yidan Shang

Jiyuan Tu

Transport and Deposition of Welding Fume Agglomerates in a Realistic Human Nasal Airway

焊接烟尘团聚体在真实人体鼻腔气道中的输运与沉积

The relatively recent development of industries working with nanomaterials has created challenges for exposure assessment. In this article, we propose a relatively simple approach to assessing nanomaterial exposures for the purposes of epidemiological studies of workers in these industries. This method consists of an onsite industrial hygiene visit of facilities carried out individually and a description of workstations where nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) are present using a standardized tool, the Onsite technical logbook. To assess its reliability, we implemented this approach for assessing exposure to NOAA in workplaces at seven workstations which synthesize and functionalize carbon nanotubes. The prediction of exposure to NOAA using this method exhibited substantial agreement with that of the reference method, the latter being based on an onsite group visit, an expert's report and exposure measurements (Cohen kappa = 0.70, sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.92). Intramethod comparison of results for exposure prediction showed moderate agreement between the three evaluators (two program team evaluators and one external evaluator) (weighted Fleiss kappa = 0.60, P = 0.003). Interevaluator reliability of the semiquantitative exposure characterization results was excellent between the two evaluators from the program team (Spearman rho = 0.93, P = 0.03) and fair when these two evaluators' results were compared with the external evaluator's results. The project was undertaken within the framework of the French epidemiological surveillance program EpiNano. This study allowed a first reliability assessment of the EpiNano method. However, to further validate this method a comparison with robust quantitative exposure measurement data is necessary.

Irina Guseva Canu

Delphine Jezewski-Serra

Laurène Delabre

Stéphane Ducamp

Sabine Audignon-Durand

Yuriko Iwatsubo

Cécile Ducros

Anca Radauceanu

Catherine Durand

Olivier Witschger

Emmanuel Flahaut

Qualitative and Semiquantitative Assessment of Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials within the French EpiNano Program: Inter- and Intramethod Reliability Study

法国EpiNano计划中工程纳米材料暴露的定性和半定量评估：方法间和方法内可靠性研究

Economic, social, technical, and political drivers are fundamentally changing the nature of work and work environments, with profound implications for the field of occupational health. Nevertheless, researchers and practitioners entering the field are largely being trained to assess and control exposures using approaches developed under old models of work and risks. A speaker series and symposium were organized to broadly explore current challenges and future directions for the occupational health field. Broad themes identified throughout these discussions are characterized and discussed to highlight important future directions of occupational health. Despite the relatively diverse group of presenters and topics addressed, some important cross-cutting themes emerged. Changes in work organization and the resulting insecurity and precarious employment arrangements change the nature of risk to a large fraction of the workforce. Workforce demographics are changing, and economic disparities among working groups are growing. Globalization exacerbates the 'race to the bottom' for cheap labor, poor regulatory oversight, and limited labor rights. Largely, as a result of these phenomena, the historical distinction between work and non-work exposures has become largely artificial and less useful in understanding risks and developing effective public health intervention models. Additional changes related to climate change, governmental and regulatory limitations, and inadequate surveillance systems challenge and frustrate occupational health progress, while new biomedical and information technologies expand the opportunities for understanding and intervening to improve worker health. The ideas and evidences discussed during this project suggest that occupational health training, professional practice, and research evolve towards a more holistic, public health-oriented model of worker health. This will require engagement with a wide network of stakeholders. Research and training portfolios need to be broadened to better align with the current realities of work and health and to prepare practitioners for the changing array of occupational health challenges.

Trevor K Peckham

Marissa G Baker

Janice E Camp

Joel D Kaufman

Noah S Seixas

Creating a Future for Occupational Health

创造职业健康的未来

Ann Work Expo Health

The Annals, v2.0

年鉴，v2.0

Photocopiers emit large amounts of nanoparticles (NP) and are a significant source of indoor air pollution. These emissions induce airway inflammation, irritation, and systemic oxidative stress in humans, lung injury and inflammation in animals, and cytotoxicity and epigenetic modifications in vitro. However, little is known regarding NP exposures at the workstation in the photocopy work environment, or the extent and use of emission controls. To survey the photocopy work environment with regards to emissions controls and to evaluate IAQ with emphasis on NP exposure at the operator's workstation. Work process, physical characteristics of the centers, and use of controls were recorded. Particle total number concentration (TNC), temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and percent relative humidity were measured during a random workday. Geometric mean (GM) TNC at workstations ranged between 1900 and 23000 particles cm−3, GSD 1.2–2.8, and maximum of 217000 particles cm−3. Fresh air ventilation was found to be less than American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) guidelines in 7 of 15 centers. Only one center used any type of emissions control. Elevated TNC at workstations was significantly correlated with number of copies (r = 0.72). While indoor/outdoor TNC ratios might be expected to be ≤1.0, the ratio here was >1.0 in 40% of centers visited, supporting the finding that copier emissions are a significant source of indoor air pollution. Number of copies per day was the most significant contributor to TNC. High NP concentrations at workstations were common and specific emission controls almost nonexistent. While 46% of copy centers had insufficient ventilation, high exposures were documented even for cases when ASHRAE ventilation guidelines per person were met or exceeded. We present various options to address IAQ in photocopy environment, including new clean photocopy technologies, engineering controls, and a comprehensive awareness campaign to improve the environmental health and safety, design, and operational conditions of these workplaces.

John Martin

Philip Demokritou

Susan Woskie

Dhimiter Bello

Indoor Air Quality in Photocopy Centers, Nanoparticle Exposures at Photocopy Workstations, and the Need for Exposure Controls

复印中心室内空气质量、复印工作站纳米颗粒暴露及暴露控制需求

In many occupational hygiene settings, the demand for more accurate, more precise results is at odds with limited resources. To combat this, practitioners have begun using Bayesian methods to incorporate prior information into their statistical models in order to obtain more refined inference from their data. This is not without risk, however, as incorporating prior information that disagrees with the information contained in data can lead to spurious conclusions, particularly if the prior is too informative. In this article, we propose a method for constructing informative prior distributions for normal and lognormal data that are intuitive to specify and robust to bias. To demonstrate the use of these priors, we walk practitioners through a step-by-step implementation of our priors using an illustrative example. We then conclude with recommendations for general use.

Harrison Quick

Tran Huynh

Gurumurthy Ramachandran

A Method for Constructing Informative Priors for Bayesian Modeling of Occupational Hygiene Data

一种构建职业卫生数据贝叶斯建模信息先验的方法

Publication Information	Publisher: Oxford University Press，Publishing cycle: Bimonthly，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 1958，Proportion of original research papers: 0.00%，Self Citation Rate:N.A.， Gold OA Rate: 0.00%
Average review cycle	网友分享经验：平均2月
Average recruitment ratio	网友分享经验：约75%

Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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