Abstract
A repeated measurement design was employed in the study of acute symptoms of eye and respiratory tract irritation resulting from occupational exposure to sodium borate dusts. The symptom assessment of the 79 exposed and 27 unexposed subjects comprised interviews before the shift began and then at regular hourly intervals for the next six hours of the shift, four days in a row. Exposures were monitored concurrently with a personal real time aerosol monitor. Two different exposure profiles, a daily average and short term (15 minute) average, were used in the analysis. Exposure-response relations were evaluated by linking incidence rates for each symptom with categories of exposure. Acute incidence rates for nasal, eye, and throat irritation, and coughing and breathlessness were found to be associated with increased exposure levels of both exposure indices. Steeper exposure-response slopes were seen when short term exposure concentrations were used. Results from multivariate logistic regression analysis suggest that current smokers tended to be less sensitive to the exposure to airborne sodium borate dust. There was no indication that anhydrous sodium borate was more potent than the other sodium borates in this work environment.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Eisen E. A., Wegman D. H., Kriebel D., Woskie S. R., Hu X. An epidemiologic approach to the study of acute reversible health effects in the workplace. Epidemiology. 1991 Jul;2(4):263–270. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199107000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garabrant D. H., Bernstein L., Peters J. M., Smith T. J., Wright W. E. Respiratory effects of borax dust. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Dec;42(12):831–837. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.12.831. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Korn E. L., Whittemore A. S. Methods for analyzing panel studies of acute health effects of air pollution. Biometrics. 1979 Dec;35(4):795–802. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ulfvarson U. Assessment of concentration peaks in setting exposure limits for air contaminants at workplaces, with special emphasis on narcotic and irritative gases and vapors. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1987 Oct;13(5):389–398. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.2022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]