[Acute exposure to vanadium-containing dusts: the health effects and biological monitoring in a group of workers employed in boiler maintenance].

The authors describe an episode of acute intoxication due to inhalation of vanadium-containing dusts in a group of 10 workers during maintenance work inside a boiler of an oil-fired electricity power station. Historical, clinical and biological monitoring data concerning the acute exposure phase and subsequent checks are presented. The appearance of irritative symptoms of the upper airways, green tongue (in 6 out of 10 subjects) and the values of urinary excretion of vanadium (means = 92, D.S. = 47 micrograms/l: limits 20-270 micrograms/l) indicated acute vanadium exposure. With the use of appropriate individual protection devices and shorter shifts, 2 weeks after the episode there was a complete remission of the symptoms and a return of urinary vanadium concentrations to 38, D.S. = 26 micrograms/l. Checks made 6 months, 1 and 2 years later did not reveal any alterations in the general blood chemistry parameters and the urinary vanadium concentrations were below 1 microgram/l (reference value). As already often reported in the literature, this episode confirms the danger involved in working in the presence of fuel oil residues or ashes and the need to adopt appropriate prevention measures.