Decharat Somsiri, Kiddee Peeranart
Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Faculty of Health and Sports Science, Thaksin University, Thailand.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Thaksin University, Thailand.
Environ Anal Health Toxicol. 2022 Mar;37(1):e2022003-0. doi: 10.5620/eaht.2022003. Epub 2022 Mar 8.
To study the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions, to study the health effects, and to investigate the concentration of Pb and Cd in indoor dust samples, drinking water samples, and personal air samples and to assess the health risk among workers who worked at e-waste recycling shops in the southern region, Thailand. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among workers from 136 electronic waste recycling stores in Southern Thailand, between January and July 2021. The study questionnaire was given to the 272 e-waste workers participating. Indoor dust, drinking water, and personal air samples were collected 27 e-waste shops and the concentrations of Pb and Cd in all samples were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression were used to analyze. Overall, 176 employees (64.7%) suffered nasal irritation, 181 employees (66.5%) reported coughing/sneezing, and 163 employees (59.9%) had inconvenient breathing/jamming symptoms. Also, 158 employees (58.1%) had skin peeling symptoms, and 188 employees (69.1%) had muscle aches. The results indicate the positive influence of increasing knowledge and attitudes on the average practice score. The hazardous index (HI)-values of indoor dust samples, drinking water samples, and personal air samples were less than 1, was considered health-protective. The results will provide the direct evidence needed by e-waste managers to warn learners. Thus, there is a need for education programme to increase knowledge among the workers. In addition, information dissemination, involvement with organizations and associations is a necessity for workers in this study.
为研究知识、态度和认知，研究健康影响，并调查泰国南部电子垃圾回收店工作的工人室内灰尘样本、饮用水样本和个人空气样本中铅和镉的浓度，评估其健康风险。这项横断面描述性研究于2021年1月至7月在泰国南部136家电子垃圾回收店的工人中进行。研究问卷发放给了参与的272名电子垃圾工人。在27家电子垃圾店采集了室内灰尘、饮用水和个人空气样本，并通过石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定了所有样本中铅和镉的浓度。采用描述性统计和简单线性回归进行分析。总体而言，176名员工（64.7%）有鼻刺激症状，181名员工（66.5%）报告有咳嗽/打喷嚏症状，163名员工（59.9%）有呼吸不便/堵塞症状。此外，158名员工（58.1%）有皮肤脱皮症状，188名员工（69.1%）有肌肉疼痛症状。结果表明知识和态度的提高对平均实践得分有积极影响。室内灰尘样本、饮用水样本和个人空气样本的危害指数（HI）值均小于1，被认为对健康有保护作用。研究结果将为电子垃圾管理者提供警示学习者所需的直接证据。因此，需要开展教育项目以提高工人的知识水平。此外，对于本研究中的工人来说，信息传播、参与组织和协会是必要的。
