Baldasseroni A, Gasparrini A, Locatelli Flavia, Lorini Chiara, Lanciotti E, Bavazzano P
SA di Epidemiologia, AUSL di Firenze.
Med Lav. 2005 Sep-Oct;96(5):409-18.
The study assesses the time trend in exposure to nickel among factory workers in Florence, via data on biological monitoring. A data-base of nickel in urinary samples (Ni-U mg/l) was created for the period 1991 to 1998.
The data-base contained 2.138 samples, measured by atomic absorption (GF-AAS),from 893 workers. Subjects came from 157 factories in various manufacturing sectors, especially electroplating, mechanical workshops, jewellery.
Ni-U levels were correlated with manufacturing sector. The highest levels were found among workers from electroplating industries, where exposure was mainly due to water-soluble nickel compounds. The eight-year time trend showed a statistically significant decrease in Ni-U values, with a sharper drop during the last two-year period. Age, sex and number of samples per subject were not statistically related to this trend.
The observed Ni-U decrease could be related to the efficacy of new legislation introduced in Italy during the study period (Law 626/94 and subsequent laws), but also to the intense labour inspection activities that officials of National Health Service performed, which were rightly focused on nickel exposure in different manufacturing sectors. This study confirms the usefulness for occupational risk evaluation of a biological monitoring data-base of routinely collected data.
本研究通过生物监测数据评估佛罗伦萨工厂工人接触镍的时间趋势。创建了一个1991年至1998年期间尿样中镍含量（镍-尿，毫克/升）的数据库。
该数据库包含来自893名工人的2138份通过原子吸收（石墨炉原子吸收光谱法）测量的样本。研究对象来自157家不同制造业工厂，特别是电镀厂、机械车间和珠宝厂。
尿镍水平与制造业部门相关。电镀行业工人的尿镍水平最高，其接触主要源于水溶性镍化合物。八年的时间趋势显示尿镍值有统计学意义的下降，在最后两年下降更为明显。年龄、性别和每个受试者的样本数量与该趋势无统计学关联。
观察到的尿镍下降可能与研究期间意大利出台的新立法（第626/94号法律及后续法律）的有效性有关，也与国家卫生服务部门官员开展的密集劳动监察活动有关，这些活动恰当地聚焦于不同制造业部门的镍接触情况。本研究证实了常规收集数据的生物监测数据库对职业风险评估的有用性。
