The Sixth People's Hospital of Dongguan, Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
Front Public Health. 2024 Aug 21;12:1399081. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1399081. eCollection 2024.
Chronic n-Hexane poisoning is prevalent among workers in small and micro printing industries in China. Despite this, there is limited research on occupational health risk assessment in these sectors. Conducting comprehensive risk assessments at key positions and proposing effective countermeasures are essential.
Data were collected from 84 key positions across 32 small and micro-sized printing enterprises. Air samples were tested for n-Hexane exposure levels in accordance with Chinese standards. Five risk assessment models were employed: COSHH, EPA, MOM, ICMM, and Technical Guide GBZ/T 289-2017 of China. The consistency of results across these models was analyzed.
Workers in 84 job positions were categorized into four exposure groups, with exposure to n-Hexane for 8-10 h daily, 5-6 days weekly. Most positions operated with low automation levels (96.9% in printing, 5.9% in oil blending, and 42.9% in pasting), while others were manual. Localized ventilation rates were notably low in oil blending (23.5%), cleaning (14.3%), and pasting (9.5%) groups. n-Hexane concentrations exceeded Chinese occupational limits in 15.6% of printing, 17.7% of oil blending, and 21.4% of cleaning groups. Risk assessment models identified over 60% of work groups as high risk. Significant differences ( < 0.05) were found among the seven risk assessment methods. Consistency analysis revealed moderate agreement between the Chinese synthesis index and exposure index methods ( = 0.571, < 0.01).
The Chinese synthesis and exposure index methods from Technical Guide GBZ/T 289-2017 are practical and reliable for assessing n-Hexane exposure risks in small and micro printing enterprises. Cleaning and printing roles were found to be at the highest risk for n-Hexane exposure. These findings provide valuable insights for targeted risk management strategies to protect workers' health in the industry.
在中国，小型和微型印刷行业的工人中普遍存在慢性正己烷中毒。尽管如此，针对这些行业的职业健康风险评估的研究却很有限。对关键岗位进行全面的风险评估并提出有效的对策是至关重要的。
从 32 家小型和微型印刷企业的 84 个关键岗位收集数据。根据中国标准，对空气样本进行正己烷暴露水平测试。使用了五种风险评估模型：COSHH、EPA、MOM、ICMM 和中国的 GBZ/T 289-2017 技术指南。分析了这些模型结果的一致性。
84 个工作岗位的工人分为四组，每天接触正己烷 8-10 小时，每周接触 5-6 天。大多数岗位的自动化程度较低（印刷岗位为 96.9%，调油岗位为 5.9%，糊盒岗位为 42.9%），而其他岗位则是手动操作。调油（23.5%）、清洗（14.3%）和糊盒（9.5%）岗位的局部通风率明显较低。在印刷（15.6%）、调油（17.7%）和清洗（21.4%）组中，正己烷浓度超过中国职业接触限值。风险评估模型确定超过 60%的工作群体为高风险。七种风险评估方法之间存在显著差异（<0.05）。一致性分析显示，中国综合指数法和暴露指数法之间具有中等一致性（=0.571，<0.01）。
GBZ/T 289-2017 技术指南中的中国综合指数法和暴露指数法适用于评估小型和微型印刷企业正己烷暴露风险，是实用和可靠的。清洗和印刷岗位的正己烷暴露风险最高。这些发现为该行业有针对性的风险管理策略提供了有价值的见解，以保护工人的健康。
