Wang Austin B, Chuang Kai-Jen, Wang Ven-Shing, Chang Ta-Yuan
Department of Occupational Safety and Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, No. 100, Sec. 1, Jingmao Rd. Beitun Dist., Taichung City 406040, Taiwan.
Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung City 406040, Taiwan.
Toxics. 2024 Jul 3;12(7):489. doi: 10.3390/toxics12070489.
This study aimed to measure personal exposure to sulfuric acid in the electroplating industry to establish a predictive model and test its validation. We collected indoor air parameters and related information from four electroplating plants. Silica gel sorbents were used to collect air samples using high-performance ion chromatography. We collected air samples from three plants (i.e., Plant B, Plant C, and Plant D) and applied multiple linear regressions to build a predictive model. Eight samples collected from the fourth plant (i.e., Plant A) were used to validate the model. A total of 41 samples were collected with a mean of 25.0 ± 9.8 μg/m (range 12.1-51.7 μg/m) in this study, including Plant A (8 samples, 17.5 ± 2.8 μg/m, 13.0-22.0 μg/m), Plant B (11 samples, 36.5 ± 9.7 μg/m, 23.1-51.7 μg/m), Plant C (11 samples, 16.4 ± 1.7 μg/m, 12.1-17.8 μg/m), and Plant D (11 samples, 27.4 ± 1.7 μg/m, 24.1-29.9 μg/m). Plant B was significantly higher in sulfuric acid than the other plants. Workers from the electroplating process plants were exposed to sulfuric acid at 29.0 ± 11.5 μg/m. The predictive model for personal exposure to sulfuric acid fit the data well (r = 0.853; adjusted r = 0.837) and had an accuracy of 5.52 μg/m (bias ± precision; 4.98 ± 2.38 μg/m), validated by the personal sampling of the fourth plant. This study observed that sulfuric acid exposure was lower than the permissible exposure level of 1000 μg/m in Taiwan and the United States, and only two samples were lower than the European Union standard of 50 μg/m. The developed model can be applied in epidemiological studies to predict personal exposure to sulfuric acid in plants using electroplating.
本研究旨在测量电镀行业中个人接触硫酸的情况，以建立预测模型并测试其有效性。我们从四家电镀厂收集了室内空气参数和相关信息。使用硅胶吸附剂，通过高效离子色谱法采集空气样本。我们从三家工厂（即工厂B、工厂C和工厂D）采集空气样本，并应用多元线性回归建立预测模型。从第四家工厂（即工厂A）采集的八个样本用于验证该模型。本研究共采集了41个样本，平均浓度为25.0±9.8μg/m³（范围为12.1 - 51.7μg/m³），其中工厂A（8个样本，17.5±2.8μg/m³，13.0 - 22.0μg/m³），工厂B（11个样本，36.5±9.7μg/m³，23.1 - 51.7μg/m³），工厂C（11个样本，16.4±1.7μg/m³，12.1 - 17.8μg/m³），工厂D（11个样本，27.4±1.7μg/m³，24.1 - 29.9μg/m³）。工厂B的硫酸含量显著高于其他工厂。来自电镀加工厂的工人接触硫酸的浓度为29.0±11.5μg/m³。个人接触硫酸的预测模型与数据拟合良好（r = 0.853；调整后r = 0.837），经第四家工厂的个人采样验证，其准确度为5.52μg/m³（偏差±精密度；4.98±2.38μg/m³）。本研究观察到，台湾和美国的硫酸接触量低于1000μg/m³的允许接触水平，只有两个样本低于欧盟50μg/m³的标准。所开发的模型可应用于流行病学研究，以预测电镀厂中个人接触硫酸的情况。
