Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Department of Environmental Protection, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics, and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Al. Mickiewicza 30, Krakow, 30-059, Poland.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Mar;30(12):32560-32572. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-24469-5. Epub 2022 Dec 5.
Vinyl acetate (VA) is a volatile compound and the main compound of the carpenter's glue. VA causes upper respiratory tract irritation, cough, and hoarseness in occupational exposure. As Iran is one of the biggest carpet producers in the world, this study was carried out to determine the inhalational health risk for employees exposed to VA. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first health risk assessment and the first evaluation of the lung functions and respiratory symptoms in employees exposed to VA. In the six finishing shops of carpet manufacturing industry in Kashan city, Iran the cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2022. The subjects comprised of forty male employees exposed to VA and of forty non-exposed employees in the reference group. VA analyses in the workers' breathing zones were performed based on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 1453 Method. VA concentrations were measured using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Inhalational risk assessment to VA was performed using the United States Environmental Protection Agency method and the Monte Carlo simulations. Respiratory functions were determined using the spirometry indices. In the exposed employees, considerably higher prevalence rates of pulmonary symptoms were observed in comparison with the control group. Statistical analysis showed a remarkable difference between lung function parameters measured in the case and the control groups. The VA Hazard Quotient (HQ) values for all working posts, except the quality control unit, were > 1 indicating the substantial inhalational non-cancerogenic risk. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the VA concentrations and exposure time had the most significant contribution in the uncertainty assessment. Therefore, it is recommended to decrease exposure to VA concentrations and to reduce the working time of exposed employees.
醋酸乙烯酯（VA）是一种挥发性化合物，也是木工胶的主要成分。职业接触 VA 会引起上呼吸道刺激、咳嗽和声音嘶哑。由于伊朗是世界上最大的地毯生产国之一，因此进行了这项研究，以确定接触 VA 的员工的吸入健康风险。据我们所知，这是首次进行健康风险评估，也是首次评估接触 VA 的员工的肺部功能和呼吸道症状。2022 年，在伊朗卡尚市的六个地毯制造行业的整理车间进行了这项横断面研究。研究对象包括 40 名接触 VA 的男性员工和 40 名在参考组中未接触 VA 的员工。根据美国国家职业安全与健康研究所（NIOSH）1453 方法，在工人的呼吸区进行了 VA 分析。使用气相色谱-质谱联用仪（GC-MS）测量 VA 浓度。使用美国环境保护署方法和蒙特卡罗模拟对 VA 进行吸入风险评估。使用肺活量计指数确定呼吸功能。与对照组相比，暴露于 VA 的员工中肺部症状的发生率明显更高。统计分析显示，病例组和对照组的肺功能参数之间存在显著差异。除了质量控制部门外，所有工作岗位的 VA 危害系数（HQ）值均>1，表明存在显著的非致癌性吸入风险。敏感性分析表明，VA 浓度和暴露时间在不确定性评估中具有最重要的贡献。因此，建议降低 VA 浓度的暴露，并减少接触员工的工作时间。
