QUESTION
Assignment 1
Message Body:
Take a few moments to think about the facility where you are currently employed or one where you were employed in the past. Do you feel that the facility you are thinking about does (or did) enough to protect its workers from chemical or biological hazards? Why, or why not? If you feel that the facility does (or did) enough, discuss the protections that are or were employed? If you feel that the facility does not (or did not) do enough, how could they improve their protection strategy?
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words. No references or citations are necessary.
2-3 refernces with intext in apa style.
Assignment 2
800 words..use references as given plus two three extra with intext in apa style
Write a summary of the article that addresses the following variables:
- Summarize the industrial hygiene sampling procedures that were used inthe study to evaluate a chemical hazard.
- Explain the results of each of the sampling procedures used, how thoseresults were used to evaluate occupational exposures, and the potential health effects of chemical hazards
- .Provide your opinion as to which of the sampling procedures used in thestudy provided the most accurate and precise information about the occupational exposures of the workers and potential healtheffects. Explain why you chose one particular sampling procedure over the others. You should use the textbook and resources from the CSU Online Library to obtain information for this assignment. Your article review must be a minimum of three pages in length, not counting the title page and reference page. Use APA style when writing the paper, making certain to include in-text citationsand references
ANSWER
ASSIGNMENT 1
I had worked in a Steel plant in the plant. I think that the protection facility from biological and chemical hazards was quite good there. Some of the major hazards that can happen in a plant are gas poisoning in case of gas leaks, heavy metals & slag, dust & fumes, noise, fires, lung infection due to chronic exposure to harmful gases, etc.
For most of these hazards, the company facilitated sufficient protection for the workers. Some of these facilities included –
- Provision of masks & hand gloves while carrying out any harmful gas related activity
- Different gas pipelines were used for proper identifications of gases like blue for Blast Furnace gas
- Maintenance of 4 meters safety distance from molten metals and slag to avoid sudden explosion or blast
- Audiometric examination for Noise monitoring and provision of ear plugs wherever necessary for employees
- Good ventilation system and regular maintenance of machines
- Regular check-ups for each employee about the possible exposure associated with his job
- Provision of impervious abrasion and alkali resistant gloves
There were many more apart from the above stated facilities. We were given health and safety for the 1st month after joining the plant, where we were taught about the safety precautions such as use of helmet, gloves, shoes, and many more. However, despite of all these facilities, some accidents did happen during the period when I was working, most of which could be attributed to the carelessness of the workers.
References
1. Augustine Moffit, 2011 Feb 25, Iron and Steel, ILO Encyclopedia of Occupational Health & Safety
2. Deborah M Proctor, 2000 Mar 13, Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Blast Furnace, Basic Oxygen Furnace, and Electric Arc Furnace Steel Industry Slags, Research Gate
3. Sectoral Activity Program Team, 2005 Feb 09, Code of practice on safety and health in the iron and steel industry, International Labour Organization
Assignment 2
Article Review
The given article on research paper “Occupational exposure to diisocyanates in polyurethane foam factory workers”, written by Swierczynska-Machura and 9 other authors, is a complete study about the health effects on polyurethane foam products factory workers in case of occupational exposures to diisocyanates during their work. The study consisted of 30 workers, aged between 23 to 58, who underwent a series of health effect tests such as skin prick test, pulmonary function test, etc. The tests were performed for checking the inhalation anomalies and blood concentration levels of workers.
Diisocyanates (DIC) are one of the main products used within the polyurethane foam industry. Some of the common diisocyanates include toluene diisocyanate (TDI), 4,4’-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). These chemicals can have toxic effects on mucus membranes, inflammation in the lung tissues, numerous pulmonary disorders, etc.
A total of seven industrial hygiene sampling procedures has been used in this study for the evaluation of chemical hazard. However, all of these procedures were not performed on all 30 subjects. Before performing the sampling procedures, each of the 30 subjects were asked to fill a full medical questionnaire, which included the history health details of the workers related to occupational exposure, the smoking status, respiratory symptoms, history of atopy, and exposure to domestic animal allergens. Based on the responses, subjects were included for the relevant sampling procedures.
- Skin Prick Test (SPT) – This test was performed on the volar part of forearm to determine the subject’s predisposition to common allergens such as tree and grass pollens. This was performed with all the subjects and the results were assessed after 15 minutes.
The test result, as shown in above table, highlights the positive reaction of the subjects, which was defined as a wheel diameter of 3 mm in the presence of a positive reaction to histamine and absence of reaction to the diluent. According to this test, 26.7% of the subjects showed sensitization to at least 1 common allergen, which is less than the value seen in the general population (37.8%) (Faniran AO et al. 1999). Grass pollen and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus proved to be most frequent allergens causing positive results.
- Allergen-Specific IgE antibodies Test – This test was performed to determine the level of allergen-specific IgE antibodies to TDI (k75) and MDI (k76) in each patient’s serum. This test was also performed with all subjects, but no specific antibodies to TDI & MDI were detected, which was against the given literature data of being around 5-30% (Park HS et al. 1999).
- Pulmonary Function Test – It included mainly the Resting Spirometry test and Metacholine Challenge for the affected subjects of Spirometry test. This test was helpful for determining the lung capacity and lung deficiencies, and it was carried for all subjects, out of which 25 had normal baseline values, while 5 subjects had bronchial obstruction with mild degree. Metacholine Challenge tests were performed for those 5 subjects, which gave details about bronchial hyperactivity and past treatment records for asthma.
- Induced Sputum Analysis – This test is a relatively non-invasive type of airway sampling which allows the analysis of cellular components and infective agents, such as bacteria and viruses. It was performed on 18 subjects, the cellular profiles of which are given in the below figure. The dust of unknown origin was observed in macrophages in each sample. It doesn’t give much detailed information about the potential health effects.
- Air Measurements of Diisocyanates – This sampling procedure was implemented on 20 subjects by collecting their air samples in their working zone using Gilian GilAir-3 personal samplers. The sampling of air for diisocyanates had a measurement period of minimum of 75% of the eight-hour working shift (UK Health & Safety Laboratory 2005). This technique showed the contents of 2,4-TDI, 2,6-TDI, MDI in the working environment. Maintenance workers had highest concentrations of TDI in the air of their work stations. However, the impact of its occupational exposure and effect on air has not been clearly analysed.
- Determination of DIC Metabolites in urine samples – This sampling procedure consisted of 20 subjects whose urine samples before and after the working shift were examined for the determination of DIC Metabolites. The method for determination of DIC metabolites has been partially validated with the help of linearity, precision, and detection limit.
The above figure was obtained while performing this test, and it is evident from here that there was a statistically significant difference in the TDI metabolites concentrations before and after the work-shift. Limit of Detection (LOD) for each metabolite has been calculated as: LOD = 9 * SDR/(Slope of calibration curve)
- Determination of creatinine in the urine sample – This test was aimed to determine the creatinine level within the urine samples of the 20 subjects. Seven subjects showed TDI metabolite concentrations that exceeded BMGV of 1 μmol TDA/mol creatinine. 8 subjects had creatinine concentrations higher than the accepted range of 0.3–3 μg/l (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists 2011) in their pre-shift urine samples, while only 2 subjects had higher than acceptable creatinine concentrations in their post-shift urine samples.
Out of all the sampling procedures, the determination of DIC Metabolites in the urine sample proved to be the most accurate and precise, according to my opinion. This is because the difference in the metabolites level pre and post shift provides better biological monitoring. Apart from this, I also think that biological monitoring combined with air monitoring will deliver the best results for determining the occupational exposures to the workers and the potential health effects.
References
1. Swierczynska-Machura, Dudek, W., . . . Palczynski, 2015 Jun 28, Occupational exposure to diisocyanates in polyurethane foam factory workers, International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
2. Krakowiak A,2005 Feb, Changes in cellular and biochemical profiles of induced sputum after allergen-induced asthmatic response, Research Gate
3. Sennbro CJ, 2006 Sep, Biological monitoring of exposure to 1,5-naphthalene diisocyanate and 4,4’-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate, International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
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