Kamal Atif, Rashid Audil
Department of Environmental Sciences, Eco-Health Research Group, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Islamabad, Pakistan,
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2014 Oct;27(5):830-9. doi: 10.2478/s13382-014-0295-3. Epub 2014 Oct 17.
In Pakistan, the reports on benzene exposure among workers in chemical industries are almost non-existing due to limited research work in the field of exposure science. This study aimed to investigate such exposure in a widely adopted occupation in Rawalpindi city.
In this cross-sectional study, 60 blood samples (N = 20/group) of mechanics (MCs), spray painters (PNs) and control participants (CN) were analyzed. The socio-economic and demographic information of workers and that of workplaces was documented using a short questionnaire.
We identified that the workers in spray-painting occupation are highly at risk of benzene exposure. The results showed that PNs were more at risk of exposure to benzene than MCs, and this exposure was significantly correlated with long working hours (r = 0.68, p < 0.001). Moreover, there are several limitations in workplace setups, which need to be addressed in order to mitigate workers health risk in this occupation. In addition to the reckless use of chemicals, other identified predictors of exposure included active and passive smoking, poor workplace hygiene and substandard ventilation.
To mitigate workplace exposure, it is necessary to reduce working hours and encourage regular use of self-protective equipments and adoption of proper hygiene in chemical workplaces.
在巴基斯坦，由于暴露科学领域的研究工作有限，几乎不存在关于化学工业工人苯暴露的报告。本研究旨在调查拉瓦尔品第市一种广泛采用的职业中的此类暴露情况。
在这项横断面研究中，分析了机械师（MCs）、喷漆工（PNs）和对照参与者（CN）的60份血样（每组N = 20）。使用简短问卷记录工人及其工作场所的社会经济和人口信息。
我们发现喷漆职业的工人面临苯暴露的风险很高。结果表明，PNs比MCs面临苯暴露的风险更高，并且这种暴露与长时间工作显著相关（r = 0.68，p < 0.001）。此外，工作场所设置存在一些限制，为降低该职业工人的健康风险，需要加以解决。除了化学品的鲁莽使用外，其他已确定的暴露预测因素包括主动和被动吸烟、工作场所卫生条件差以及通风不达标。
为减轻工作场所暴露，有必要减少工作时间，鼓励在化学工作场所定期使用自我防护设备并采用适当的卫生措施。
