Department of Physiology, AIIMS, Guwahati, 781101, India.
Int J Biometeorol. 2024 Dec;68(12):2477-2493. doi: 10.1007/s00484-024-02765-8. Epub 2024 Sep 9.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC predicts that hot seasons will get even hotter due to global climate change. There exists a critical dependence of human metabolic processes on temperature. Changes in thermal balance therefore, have an adverse effect on health because they raise body temperature, cause excessive sweating, and accelerate the rate of dehydration. Different nations and professional groups use different techniques to measure heat strain. This paper aims to review previous research conducted in the area of heat strain due to heat exposure among workers in Southeast Asia and also to profile mitigation strategies in North East India. Studies conducted between the years 2011 to 2023 in the evaluation of the health impacts of occupational heat stress were searched systematically using several sources of databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, etc. It was noted that a greater proportion of previous research on evaluating physiological effects was carried out in controlled environments as opposed to real-world field settings. While such studies give us valuable insights into the relationship, applying the same methodology in the workplace may not be feasible. In India, very few research has been carried out on workplace heat stress, and even fewer have been done in North East India using physiological indicators. North East India is also affected by global climate change leading top more hotter days than before. The region of Northeast India, particularly Guwahati (Assam), has recently seen extreme heat waves during the sweltering summer months. With less literature available in this geographical location, studies with actual field-based settings are much needed to understand the occupational health impacts in this region. This review can formulate a suitable methodology for assessing the health impacts in working environment. This can also help the local health professionals to recognize the heat strain parameters that are acceptable worldwide, and use as pertinent indicators to scrutinize worker's health and develop preventive agendas as climate change advances.
政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）预测，由于全球气候变化，炎热季节将变得更加炎热。人类新陈代谢过程对温度有很大的依赖性。因此，热平衡的变化对健康有不利影响，因为它们会升高体温、导致过度出汗和加速脱水。不同的国家和专业团体使用不同的技术来测量热应激。本文旨在回顾东南亚工人因热暴露而导致热应激的先前研究，并概述印度东北部的缓解策略。使用 PubMed、Google Scholar、Science Direct、Web of Science、Scopus 等多个数据库来源，系统地搜索了 2011 年至 2023 年期间评估职业热应激对健康影响的研究。研究表明，以前关于评估生理效应的研究中，更多的研究是在受控环境中进行的，而不是在真实的野外环境中进行的。虽然这些研究使我们对这种关系有了更深入的了解，但在工作场所应用相同的方法可能并不可行。在印度，很少有关于工作场所热应激的研究，而在印度东北部，使用生理指标进行的研究则更少。印度东北部也受到全球气候变化的影响，导致比以前更多的炎热天气。印度东北部地区，特别是阿萨姆邦的古瓦哈蒂，在闷热的夏季期间最近经历了极端热浪。由于该地理位置的文献较少，因此非常需要进行实际野外环境的研究，以了解该地区的职业健康影响。这项研究可以为评估工作环境中的健康影响制定合适的方法。这也可以帮助当地的卫生专业人员识别全球范围内可接受的热应激参数，并将其作为相关指标来审查工人的健康状况，制定预防议程，以应对气候变化的影响。
