Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access first published online on December 21, 2005
This version published online on March 1, 2006
Annals of Occupational Hygiene, doi:10.1093/annhyg/mei068
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé (GRIS), Département de santé environnementale et santé au travail, Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal, PO Box 6128, Main Station, Montreal (QC), Canada H3C 3J7
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Occupational exposure databanks (OEDBs) have been cited as sources of exposure data for exposure surveillance and exposure assessment in epidemiology. In 2003, an extract was made from COLCHIC, the French national OEDB, of all concentrations of formaldehyde. The data were analysed with extended linear mixed-effects models in order to identify influent variables and elaborate a multi-sector picture of formaldehyde exposures. Respectively, 1401 and 1448 personal and area concentrations were available for the analysis. The fixed effects of the personal and area models explained, respectively, 57 and 53% of the total variance. Personal concentrations were related to the sampling duration (short-term higher than TWA levels), decreased with the year of sampling (-9% per year) and were higher when local exhaust ventilation was present. Personal levels taken during planned visits and for occupational illness notification purpose were consistently lower than those taken during ventilation modification programmes or because the hygienist suspected the presence of significant risk or exposure. Area concentrations were related to the sampling duration (short-term higher than TWA levels), and decreased with the year of sampling (-7% per year) and when the measurement sampling flow increased. Significant within-facility (correlation coefficient 0.4-0.5) and within-sampling campaign correlation (correlation coefficient 0.8) was found for both area and personal data. The industry/task classification appeared to have the greatest influence on exposure variability while the sample duration and the sampling flow were significant in some cases. Estimates made from the models for year 2002 showed elevated formaldehyde exposure in the fields of anatomopathological and biological analyses, operation of gluing machinery in the wood industry, operation and monitoring of mixers in the pharmaceutical industry, and garages and warehouses in urban transit authorities.
Received May 30, 2005
Accepted October 28, 2005
Article
Statistical Modelling of Formaldehyde Occupational Exposure Levels in French Industries, 1986-2003
Jérôme Lavoué 1,
Raymond Vincent 2,
and
Michel Gérin 1 *
2 Institut national de recherche et de sécurité, Département de métrologie des polluants, Vandoeuvres-les-Nancy, France
Michel Gérin, E-mail: michel.gerin{at}umontreal.ca
Abstract
This version contains a new corresponding author and amendments to paragraph 1 on page 4.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. OGDEN Annals of Occupational Hygiene at Volume 50: Many Achievements, a Few Mistakes, and an Interesting Future Ann. Hyg., November 1, 2006; 50(8): 751 - 764. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|