Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on July 24, 2008
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2008 52(7):623-633; doi:10.1093/annhyg/men046
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Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Exposure among Employees in Norwegian Smelters
altyt
Benth5,2
1 Department of Medicine, Akershus University Hospital, PO Box 75, N-1478 Lørenskog, Norway
2 Faculty of medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
3 National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway
4 Eurofins Norway, Oslo, Norway
5 Helse Sør-Øst Health Services Research Centre, Lørenskog, Norway
6 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Rikshospitalet Medical Centre, Oslo, Norway
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +0047-92042621; fax: +0047-62590912; e-mail: helle.laier{at}dadlnet.dk
Objectives: To generate a job exposure matrix (JEM) for dust exposure in Norwegian smelters to be used in an epidemiologic study of respiratory diseases and to identify determinants of exposure.
Methods: The arithmetic mean and geometric mean (GM) of 2619 personal dust exposure measurements were applied in constructing the JEM, which was assigned to 2620 employees participating in a respiratory survey including yearly spirometry and a respiratory questionnaire. A qualitative exposure classification was constructed: (i) line operators were those employed full time in the production line, (ii) non-exposed employees were those who did not work in production and (iii) the remainder were classified as non-line operators.
Results: In the ferrosilicon alloy and silicon metal production group (FeSi/Si-metal), the median GM of dust exposure was 2.3 mg m–3 (0.04–5.6) (10–90% percentiles) compared with 1.6 mg m–3 (0.02–2.3) in the silicomanganese, ferromanganese and ferrochromium production group (SiMn/FeMn/FeCr). Multivariate analyses showed that dust exposure concentration levels decreased significantly with increasing age (FeSi/Si-metal), was significantly lower in females than in males and was significantly higher in current smokers than in never-smokers. Dust exposure concentration levels were also higher in employees reporting previous exposure to dust, fumes and gases than in employees without such previous exposure, though, significant only in the FeSi/Si-metal production group.
Conclusion: The dust exposure levels of the employees were higher in the FeSi/Si-metal production group than in the SiMn/FeMn/FeCr production group. Age, gender, smoking status and previous exposure were significant determinants of dust exposure and should be evaluated in future analyses of the relationship between health outcomes and dust exposure in this industry.
Keywords: job exposure matrix • longitudinal study • qualitative exposure classification • smelting industry • total dust exposure
Received March 30, 2007; in final form June 18, 2008