Exposure of hairdressing apprentices to airborne hazardous substances

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated exposure of hairdressing apprentices to airborne irritants. This study describes exposure levels of apprentices to chemical products used in hairdressing salons in relation with their activity. METHODS: Following a two stages study design, a group of 300 students completed a questionnaire on their work activities and environment. Among these, a group of 28 subjects volunteered to undergo personal exposure and workplace concentrations measurements over a work shift, during a cold and a hot season, with the agreement of the salon owners. Three chemical substances were studied (ammonia, hydrogen peroxide and persulfates) because they are respiratory tract irritants and because their concentrations could be quantified within a 5 to 8 hour shift period. RESULTS: Personal exposure values for H(2)O(2)and NH(3) (averages [standard deviations] are 0.05 [0.04] and 0.90 [0.76] mg.m(-3), respectively) were greater than workplace ambient air concentrations (corresponding values of 0.04 [0.03] and 0.68 [0.42] mg.m(-3)) for H(2)O(2 )and NH(3), with no significant seasonal variation. By contrast, workplace concentrations of persulfates (0.019 [0.018] mg.m(-3)) were greater than personal exposure (0.016 [0.021] mg.m(-3), a finding that is consistent with the fact that bleaching is more often undertaken by senior hairdressers. However, all exposure values were lower than the current TLV TWA values. This study also shows that over half of technical spaces where chemical substances used for dying, permanenting or bleaching are manipulated, have no ventilation system, and not even a door or a window opening outside. CONCLUSION: The study hairdressing salons, on average, were small, the most probable reason why occupational hygiene measures such as appropriate ventilation were too seldom implemented. As a consequence, young apprentices and senior hairdressers experience substantial exposure to known airways irritants

Exposure of bakery and pastry apprentices to airborne flour dust using PM2.5 and PM10 personal samplers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study describes exposure levels of bakery and pastry apprentices to flour dust, a known risk factor of occupational asthma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaires on work activity were completed by 286 students. Among them, 34 performed a series of two personal exposure measurements using a PM_2.5and PM₁₀personal sampler during a complete work shift, one during a cold ("winter") period, and the other during a hot ("summer") period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Bakery apprentices experience greater average PM_2.5and PM₁₀exposures than pastry apprentices (p < 0.006). Exposure values for both particulate fractions are greater in winter (average PM₁₀values among bakers = 1.10 mg.m^-3[standard deviation: 0.83]) than in summer (0.63 mg.m^-3[0.36]). While complying with current European occupational limit values, these exposures exceed the ACGIH recommendations set to prevent sensitization to flour dust (0.5 mg.m^-3). Over half the facilities had no ventilation system.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Young bakery apprentices incur substantial exposure to known airways allergens, a situation that might elicit early induction of airways inflammation.</p

Long-term occupational consequences of asthma in a large French cohort of male workers followed up for 5 years.

International audienceOBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the long-term occupational consequences of asthma in males of the ESTEV study, a French longitudinal cohort of working subjects aged 37-52 at inclusion. METHODS: Medical data, self-perceived health status, sick leave, occupational social class and employment characteristics were recorded twice by occupational physicians in 1990 (12,233 subjects) and 1995 (10,608 subjects). Asthma was characterized as to its onset (childhood, i.e., before age 20 vs. adult) and to its past versus current status by the physician. RESULTS: Of the 398 asthmatics, the onset was before age 20 for 226 and the asthma status was classified as current for 159 subjects. Unemployment was not higher before baseline or during follow-up, in asthmatics as compared to non-asthmatics, despite a significantly higher prevalence of sick leave in the previous year among current asthmatics (38.4% vs. 27.0%, P = 0.005). Being a blue collar worker in 1990 is negatively related to childhood asthma but not to the current asthma status. In 1995, current adult-onset asthmatics had stopped working due to disability more frequently than never-asthmatics. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the major consequence of asthma on employment status is a selective exclusion, observed in childhood asthmatics at the beginning of their working life and in current adult-onset asthmatics at the end of their working life. Past unemployment was shown not to be higher in working asthmatics

Asthme et activité professionnelle chez les hommes de la cohorte ESTEV (Étude Santé Travail Et Vieillissement)

National audienc

Long-term consequences of a common chronic disease: asthma

International audienc