| 1. |
- Hagström, Katja, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
-
Exposure to wood dust, resin acids and volatile organic compounds during production of wood pellets
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. - Philadelphia, PA : Taylor and Francis. - 1545-9624 .- 1545-9632. ; 5:5, s. 296-304
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The main aim of this study was to investigate exposure to airborne substances that are potentially harmful to health during the production of wood pellets, including wood dust, monoterpenes, and resin acids, and as an indicator of diesel exhaust nitrogen dioxide. In addition, area measurements were taken to assess background exposure levels of these substances, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon monoxide. Measurements were taken at four wood pellet production plants from May 2004 to April 2005. Forty-four workers participated in the study, and a total of 68 personal measurements were taken to determine personal exposure to wood dust (inhalable and total dust), resin acids, monoterpenes, and nitrogen dioxide. In addition, 42 measurements of nitrogen dioxide and 71 measurements of total dust, resin acids, monoterpenes, VOCs, and carbon monoxide were taken to quantify their indoor area concentrations. Personal exposure levels to wood dust were high, and a third of the measured levels of inhalable dust exceeded the Swedish occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 2 mg/m3. Parallel measurements of inhalable and total dust indicated that the former were, on average, 3.2 times higher than the latter. The data indicate that workers at the plants are exposed to significant amounts of the resin acid 7-oxodehydroabietic acid in the air, an observation that has not been recorded previously at wood processing and handling plants. The study also found evidence of exposure to dehydroabietic acid, and exposure levels for resin acids approached 74% of the British OEL for colophony, set at 50 microg/m3. Personal exposure levels to monoterpenes and nitrogen dioxide were low. Area sampling measurements indicated that aldehydes and terpenes were the most abundant VOCs, suggesting that measuring personal exposure to aldehydes might be of interest. Carbon monoxide levels were under the detection limit in all area measurements. High wood dust exposure levels are likely to have implications for worker health; therefore, it is important to reduce exposure to wood dust in this industry.
|
|
| 2. |
- Hagström, Katja, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
-
Preschool children´s exposure to metals via measurements of hand deposition
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Abstract Book, Monday.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Since we spend most of our time indoors the indoor environment can lead to exposure to substances like metals. Small children are often more exposed than adults, for instance due to their hand-to-mouth behaviour. Since some metals can have adverse health effects in children the aim of this study was to investigate indoor exposure to metals on children’s hands in preschools.Method: In the study, 60 children at 8 preschools in two cities in Sweden participated. Metals on the hands were sampled at two different periods (winter and spring) giving a total of 109 samples. During sampling, both hands were wiped using hand-wipes soaked in 1 % HNO3, and sampling was done after two hours of indoor activities. The following metals were analyzed using ICP-MS; beryllium, magnesium, aluminium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, molybdenum, silver, cadmium, antimony, barium, thallium and lead. Results All samples were above limit of quantification (LOQ) except for beryllium and molybdenum (4 %Conclusion: Metals linked to severe health effects like cadmium, arsenic and lead as well as a range of other metals could be detected on children’s hands. These findings indicate an exposure to metals for children both via dermal uptake and oral intake due to hand-to-mouth transfer, but potential contributions to the body burden are unknown. Higher levels were seen during spring and in one of the cities, possible explanations to these observations needs to be looked into more closely.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Löfstedt, Håkan, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
-
Respiratory symptoms and lung function in relation to wood dust and monoterpene exposure in the wood pellet industry
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0300-9734 .- 2000-1967. ; 122:2, s. 78-84
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Wood pellets are used as a source of renewable energy for heating purposes. Common exposures are wood dust and monoterpenes, which are known to be hazardous for the airways. The purpose of this study was to study the effect of occupational exposure on respiratory health in wood pellet workers.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-nine men working with wood pellet production at six plants were investigated with a questionnaire, medical examination, allergy screening, spirometry, and nasal peak expiratory flow (nasal PEF). Exposure to wood dust and monoterpenes was measured.RESULTS: The wood pellet workers reported a higher frequency of nasal symptoms, dry cough, and asthma medication compared to controls from the general population. There were no differences in nasal PEF between work and leisure time. A lower lung function than expected (vital capacity [VC], 95%; forced vital capacity in 1 second [FEV1], 96% of predicted) was noted, but no changes were noted during shifts. There was no correlation between lung function and years working in pellet production. Personal measurements of wood dust at work showed high concentrations (0.16-19 mg/m(3)), and exposure peaks when performing certain work tasks. Levels of monoterpenes were low (0.64-28 mg/m(3)). There was no association between exposure and acute lung function effects.CONCLUSIONS: In this study of wood pellet workers, high levels of wood dust were observed, and that may have influenced the airways negatively as the study group reported upper airway symptoms and dry cough more frequently than expected. The wood pellet workers had both a lower VC and FEV1 than expected. No cross-shift changes were found.
|
|
| 5. |
- Sjöström, Ylva, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
-
Exposure to phthalates and DiNCH among preschool children in Sweden : Urinary metabolite concentrations and predictors of exposure
- 2023
-
Ingår i: International journal of hygiene and environmental health. - : Urban & Fischer. - 1438-4639 .- 1618-131X. ; 250
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several plasticizing chemicals induce endocrine disrupting effects in humans, and the indoor environment is suggested to be a source of exposure. As children are particularly vulnerable to the effects from exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), it is essential to monitor exposure to EDCs such as phthalates and non-phthalate plasticizers in indoor environments intended for use by children. The aim of this study was to assess everyday plasticizer exposure among preschool-aged children in Sweden by measuring urinary plasticizer metabolite concentrations. In addition, it was investigated whether the concentrations would be altered as a result of the children spending part of the day at preschool, in comparison with weekend exposure, when they may spend more time in home environments or engage in various weekend and leisure activities. For this purpose, fourteen metabolites from eight phthalates (di-ethylhexyl phthalate, DEHP; di-n-butyl phthalate, DnBP; di-isobutyl phthalate, DiBP; butyl-benzyl phthalate, BBzP; di-iso-nonyl phthalate, DiNP; di-propylheptyl phthalate, DPHP; di-iso-decyl phthalate, DiDP; and di-ethyl phthalate, DEP) and one non-phthalate plasticizer (di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2-dicarboxylate, DiNCH) were measured in 206 urine samples collected at four occasions, i.e. twice during the winter and twice during the spring from 54 children (mean 5.1 years, SD 0.94) enrolled at eight preschools in Sweden. A detection frequency (DF) of 99.9% for the 14 metabolites indicates a widespread exposure to plasticizers among children in Sweden. Compared to previous Swedish and international studies performed during approximately the same time period, high urinary concentrations of monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), a metabolite from the strictly regulated BBzP, were measured in this study (median 17 ng/mL). Overall, high urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were observed in this study compared to the US CDC-NHANES from the same time period and similar age-group. Compared to European studies, however, similar concentrations were observed for most metabolites and the urinary concentrations from few participating children exceeded the human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GV) for children. After days with preschool attendance, lower urinary concentrations of metabolites originating from DEP and phthalates that are strictly regulated within the EU REACH legislation (DEHP, DnBP, and DiBP) and higher concentrations of metabolites originating from DiNP, DPHP, and DiDP, i.e. less or non-regulated phthalates were found compared the urinary concentrations of these metabolites in weekends. This may indicate that factors in the indoor environment itself are important for the extent of the plasticizer exposure. All the analyzed metabolites were measured in lower concentrations in urine collected from children attending preschools built or renovated after the year 2000, while no seasonal differences were observed in this study.
|
|
