Eriksson Kåre, Liljelind Ingrid, Fahlén Jessica, Lampa Erik
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Northern Sweden, SE-901 85 Umeå, Sweden.
Ann Occup Hyg. 2005 Aug;49(6):529-33. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/mei025. Epub 2005 Jun 17.
A self-operated personal sampling technique called 'self assessment of exposure' (SAE) has been suggested as an easy method for collecting inhalation exposure data, as the workers themselves are performing the sampling. Employers and employees have raised the question of whether a different estimate of the air concentration is likely to be obtained depending on whether the sampler is fastened at the left or the right shoulder. In order to answer this question, the exposure to styrene vapour in two different small enterprises within the reinforced plastics industry was measured. Seven workers participated and the air sampling was performed by diffusive sampling. We observed no statistically significant difference in the determined air concentration of styrene between the left and right shoulder (P = 0.878). The results strongly indicate that the fastening of a sampler on the left or right shoulder does not produce a difference in the estimation of the inhalation exposure. SAE can thus be used to collect reliable exposure data of styrene vapour. The reliability of SAE will most certainly inspire occupational hygienists, physicians and other experts to involve the workers in repeated exposure measurements. Taking the exposure variability into account, repeated measurements are crucial when evaluating acute and chronic health effects following inhalation exposure to gases and vapours from chemical hazards.
一种名为“暴露自我评估”（SAE）的自主式个人采样技术已被提议作为收集吸入暴露数据的简便方法，因为采样工作由工人自己完成。雇主和员工提出了这样一个问题：根据采样器固定在左肩还是右肩，是否可能获得不同的空气浓度估计值。为了回答这个问题，对增强塑料行业内两家不同的小企业中的苯乙烯蒸气暴露情况进行了测量。七名工人参与其中，空气采样通过扩散采样进行。我们观察到，左肩和右肩处测定的苯乙烯空气浓度在统计学上没有显著差异（P = 0.878）。结果有力地表明，将采样器固定在左肩或右肩对吸入暴露的估计没有差异。因此，SAE可用于收集可靠的苯乙烯蒸气暴露数据。SAE的可靠性肯定会激励职业卫生学家、医生和其他专家让工人参与重复暴露测量。考虑到暴露的变异性，在评估吸入化学危害产生的气体和蒸气后的急性和慢性健康影响时，重复测量至关重要。
