A Multiple and Comprehensive Approach to Assess Health Risk in Amalgam-exposed Chinese Workers

Overview

Journal Front Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2022 Oct 7

PMID 36203661

Authors

Xiao-Ying Ruan

Si-Wei Tan

Lin Zhu

Yan-Peng Shi

Jia-Mian Yu

Mei-Bian Zhang

Tong-Shuai Wang

Hong Fu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Fluorescent lamp manufacturing workers have been extensively exposed to mercury (Hg). Our aim was to assess their health risks using several approved occupational health risk assessment methods, and to find out which method was more suitable for identification of occupational health risks. Work locations, and air and urine samples were collected from 530 exposed workers in Zhejiang, China. Based on the calculated exposure doses, health risks and risk ratios (RRs) as health risk indices, were evaluated using: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Australian, Romanian, Singaporean, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) methods. Among the workers, 86.0% had higher Hg levels than the Chinese occupational exposure limits of 0.02 mg/m3, and 16.7% urine samples were higher than the biological exposure limits of 35.0 μg/g·creatinine. Among workers at the injection, etc. locations, their average RRs, evaluated by the EPA, COSHH and Singaporean methods were 0.97, 0.76, and 0.60, respectively, and were significantly higher than the ICMM (0.39), Australian (0.30) and Romanian (0.29) methods. The RRs from the Singaporean method showed significant correlations with the urinary Hg levels ( < 0.01). In conclusion, the Singaporean method was more appropriate than the others for health risk evaluation because the excessive risks were significantly associated with urinary Hg levels among the workers.

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