Semi-Quantitative Dermal Exposure Assessment of Lead with DREAM Model in a Lead Mine in Iran

Occupational exposure to toxic substances occurs in a variety of ways. The DREAM model is suggested for assessing skin exposure using preset values. The purpose of this study is to investigate the exposure of lead in workers at a mine lead using the DREAM model. This research was done in several steps. First, collect information about people and the work environment. Then design the model in Excel2016 by the authors. This research was descriptive-analytic research and included 46 miners. The DREAM model has a total of 33 variables included. In the DREAM model, exposure assessment was performed for 9 body parts at task level 2. The DREAM model was completed for 5 jobs. Jobs were in the lab, tunnel-74, tunnel-34, entrance to the tunnel and flotation workshop. The results were calculated for each of the 9 parts of the site for propagation, transfer, deposition, and potential and actual exposures, and eventually total exposures. The DREAM model, in comparison with similar methods, estimates the skin exposure level in a semi-quantitative fashion. This method has been used to estimate skin exposure in a variety of industries. This method was used to assess the skin exposure of workers in a mine, which resulted in training workers and providing personal protective equipment appropriate to the environment

A Comparative Evaluation of TiO 2

The most important parameters affecting the efficiency of catalysts for the oxidation of the surrounding materials are considered to be the thickness and uniformity of the catalyst layer. The present method for the determination of thickness used in most studies is the analysis of cross-sectional pictures from SEM imaging. This method, however, has several restrictions. This study proposes a feasible and simple method for evaluating the optimal thickness and uniformity using UVA light transmitted through the samples. Three techniques for catalyst deposition have been investigated in this study using UVA light transmitted through the samples and by measuring the photocatalytic activity. These methods include lowering, dip coating, and spraying, which showed coefficients of variation for the coated catalyst weight of 28.4%, 13.6%, and 3.24%, respectively. The samples from the lowering, dip coating, and spraying techniques showed UVA transmissions of 95.02%, 68.8%, and 15.6%, respectively. The spraying technique displayed the lowest values for both. The estimated removal efficiencies (%RE/mgcm−2) for lowering, dip coating, and spraying were 18.42, 16.84, and 24.15, respectively. Using these analyses it was determined that the spraying technique yielded the best photocatalytic oxidation performance of the three techniques studied

Feasibility Study of Using Radio-frequency Identification Technology in Estimating the Time Pattern of Exposure to Causative Agents of Occupational Diseases

Background: At workplaces, the workers exposed to several harmful agents such as physical, chemical, and biological pollutant that cause occupational diseases. There are a lot of jobs that not allow a certain pattern of exposure to this agent. In this article, we introduce a technology named radio-frequency identification (RFID) to estimate the exposure time of workers to harmful agent. Materials and Methods: This applied study was carried out experimentally in an industry in Isfahan province, Iran. Twenty-nine participants selected from the workers without a fixed pattern of exposure. Two methods used to measure the exposure time of them. The first method was based on a self-made RFID device and conducted by the workers. The second method performed by stopwatch, which was carried out by the occupational hygienist. The results were analyzed using SPSS 20 and descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficient, and paired samples t-test. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.48 ± 5.889 and job experience was 9.06 ± 6.316 years. Spearman correlation coefficient shows that there is a significant correlation between the exposure times measured by the workers and occupational hygienist (R in all zones was higher than 0.9, P 0.05). Conclusion: RFID technology is an appropriate method to evaluate the exposure time of workers without fixed pattern of exposure to causative factors of occupational diseases. It can also be used in other fields of occupational health engineering

Determining the Causes and Extent of Negligence of Occupational Accidents Assessed by Labor Office Inspectors and Official Experts of Judiciary

Background: The purpose of this study was to model the causes and extent of negligence of occupational accidents assessed by labor office inspectors and official experts of the Judiciary of Isfahan Province, Iran, from the perspective of health, safety, and environment (HSE) management. Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the causes and extent of negligence of agent or agents of occupational accidents in some industries and workshops in Isfahan Province. In this study, the data were collected by census, which after reviewing all the cases, finally 367 cases were completed and examined. Findings: The lowest agreement on the percentage of negligence of the victims was related to the opinion of the inspector and the opinion of the seven-member board [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 31.5%]. Most agreement between the five-member and seven-member boards was in determining the percentage of the employer's failure. Moreover, disagreement was observed more in determining the percentage of negligence of the victim. Statistically, there was no significant difference between the three-member and five-member staff in any of the potential causes of the accidents (P > 0.05). For the cause of carelessness and negligence, there was a weak agreement between the inspector's opinion and the opinions of three-member and seven-member boards. Conclusion: Based on the results, people who have more work experience receive less failure percentage. However, if the injured person has a higher work experience in the current job, he has a higher percentage of negligence in the accident which has occurred

Developed a needle trap device with PDMS sorbent for microextraction of toluene and methyl ethyl ketone from aquatic samples using dynamic headspace

Introduction: Due to the widespread use of toxic chemicals in most workplaces that can lead to toxic effects on human, various chemical extraction technique have been defined for analysis these toxic substances in air, water and biological samples. The purpose of this research is extraction of  toluene and methyl ethyl ketone from aquatic samples with needle trap device and  one commercial sorbent. Methods: In this research, needle trap device was used to extraction of  toluene and methyl ethyl ketone in aquatic samples, so needles(size 20) were packed with PDMS and extraction was done with dynamic headspace needle trap device. Gas chromatography with - flame ionization detector was used to analysis and optimized extraction of two substances were obtained. Results: Results show that the optimum temperature and time extraction was similar for toluene and methyl ethyl ketone (30 ° C, 30 min), but the reproducibility of results and calibration curve that obtained for toluene was better than methyl ethyl ketone. Conclusion: Needle trap technique is inexpensive, sensitive and portable also this method has good recovery to extract small amounts of  toluene and methyl ethyketon from aquatic samples with polydimethylsiloxane