Documents skin tests 11 results

Objectives This study investigated the facial skin complaints of office workers before and after the static electric fields of a visual display unit were reduced.Methods On the basis of a screening survey of 4556 office workers in 11 companies, 120 of 227 subjects reporting facial skin complaints were randomly selected to this double blind intervention study. Antistatic measures were used to reduce the static electric fields of the visual display unit in the intervention group but not in the control group, which worked with a visual display unit resembling that of the intervention group. Electric fields, dust concentration, health complaints, and psychological behavior tests were recorded before and after the intervention.Results The intervention group reported statistically significantly fewer facial skin complaints than the control group. In the intervention group, among those with an office dust concentration of >58 g/m3, a median reduction of 1.5 skin index points (scale 0-8) was achieved, whereas there was no change in the control group. In the regression model "group category" was still a significant variable after control for background factors. In addition, further linear regression analyses indicated that several static electric field parameters were predictors of the skin complaint reduction.Conclusions This field trial indicates that removing static electric fields from visual display units can probably help reduce the facial skin complaints of workers in offices with high dust concentrations.

"Over the past decade, the primary focus of nanotoxicology and nanoenvironmental health and safety efforts has been largely on inhalation exposure to engineered nanomaterials, at the production stage, and much less on considering risks along the life cycle of nano-enabled products. Dermal exposure to nanomaterials and its health impact has been studied to a much lesser extent, and mostly in the context of intentional exposure to nano-enabled products such as in nanomedicine, cosmetics and personal care products. How concerning is dermal exposure to such nanoparticles in the context of occupational exposures? When and how should we measure it?

In the first of a series of two papers (Larese Filon et al., 2016), we focused our attention on identifying conditions or situations, i.e. a combination of nanoparticle physico-chemical properties, skin barrier integrity, and occupations with high prevalence of skin disease, which deserve further investigation. This second paper focuses on the broad question of dermal exposure assessment to nanoparticles and attempts to give an overview of the mechanisms of occupational dermal exposure to nanoparticles and nano-enabled products and explores feasibility and adequacy of various methods of quantifying dermal exposure to NOAA. We provide here a conceptual framework for screening, prioritization, and assessment of dermal exposure to NOAA in occupational settings, and integrate it into a proposed framework for risk assessment."

"The paper reviews and critically assesses the evidence on the relevance of various skin uptake pathways for engineered nanoparticles, nano-objects, their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA). It focuses especially in occupational settings, in the context of nanotoxicology, risk assessment, occupational medicine, medical/epidemiological surveillance efforts, and the development of relevant exposure assessment strategies.
Skin uptake of nanoparticles is presented in the context of local and systemic health effects, especially contact dermatitis, skin barrier integrity, physico-chemical properties of NOAA, and predisposing risk factors, such as stratum corneum disruption due to occupational co-exposure to chemicals, and the presence of occupational skin diseases. Attention should be given to: (1) Metal NOAA, since the potential release of ions may induce local skin effects (e.g. irritation and contact dermatitis) and absorption of toxic or sensitizing metals; (2) NOAA with metal catalytic residue, since potential release of ions may also induce local skin effects and absorption of toxic metals; (3) rigid NOAA smaller than 45 nm that can penetrate and permeate the skin; (4) non rigid or flexible NOAA, where due to their flexibility liposomes and micelles can penetrate and permeate the intact skin; (5) impaired skin condition of exposed workers.
Furthermore, we outline possible situations where health surveillance could be appropriate where there is NOAA occupational skin exposures, e.g. when working with nanoparticles made of sensitizer metals, NOAA containing sensitizer impurities, and/or in occupations with a high prevalence of disrupted skin barrier integrity. The paper furthermore recommends a stepwise approach to evaluate risk related to NOAA to be applied in occupational exposure and risk assessment, and discusses implications related to health surveillance, labelling, and risk communication."

"The direct causes of occupational dermatoses: chemical, mechanical, physical, and biological in nature are presented. The implications of assigning the degree and type of occupational dermatoses are explained. Workmans compensation is based on a no-fault arrangement, stating that unrestricted treatment and compensation is allowable only when negligence on the part of the employer is proven. Employee benefits are then determined by the duration and degree of disability sustained - all of which becomes litigational. Predisposing host factors, i.e. intellectual ability, anatomic site, atopy, skin pigmentation, age of skin, and immunosuppression (by disease or medication) are usually ignored. Environmental factors at the workplace must be considered conducive to occupational diseases. The full spectrum of irritant contact dermatitis is discussed with examples of each described. Allergic contact dermatitis and patch testing - the gold standard for identification of putative allergens is extensively discussed. Differentiating irritant contact dermatitis from allergic contact dermatitis is elucidated. The other non-contact type skin reactions are briefly mentioned."

Background Natural rubber latex (NRL) has become an important occupational health concern in recent years, particularly among health care workers. It has been suggested in some reports that the prevalence of latex sensitization among occupationally exposed groups is not different from that in the general population. Methods The findings of prevalence studies conducted among occupationally-exposed and general population groups were reviewed to determine whether there is evidence to support this suggestion. Results Numerous surveys of HCWs have demonstrated that the prevalence of sensitization to latex ranged in most studies from 5 to 12%; sensitization of HCWs may produce clinical effects including urticaria, rhinoconjunctivitis, occupational asthma, and potentially life-threatening anaphylactic shock. More than a decade ago, data from Finland indicated that the prevalence of latex allergy in the general population was less than 1%. Recent reports from Finland have confirmed this, with observations that 0.7-1.1% of large series of patients were NRL-allergic, while among 804 unselected patients, the prevalence of latex skin prick test (SPT) positivity was 0.12%. In contrast, other studies have suggested that from 4 to 6.4% of individuals tested were positive for serum latex-specific IgE antibodies. However, the specificity of these assays has been reported to be low. In three recent studies based on SPTs, published in 1997, the prevalence of positive reactions to latex was about 1% or less. The prevalence was 0.7% (95% CI 0.3-1.4) among 758 apprentices in Quebec, Canada; and 1.1% among more than 3,000 children tested in Finland (1.0% confirmed on latex use test). There were no first- and second-year dental students with positive latex SPTs in Ontario, Canada. Conclusions These recent investigations provide further evidence consistent with earlier studies based on skin testing that the prevalence of latex sensitization in occupationally-unexposed groups is quite low (<1%). The marked differences in the findings based on serological assays may relate to the nonspecificity of these assays and deserve further investigation.

"Introduction. -
Cette étude contribue à quantifier les contraintes physiologiques subies par des sapeurs pompiers expérimentés et entraînés, représentés par des professionnels, et des sapeurs pompiers volontaires dont l'expérience est moindre, lors de l'exposition à d'un feu.
Synthèse des faits. -
Nous avons mesuré la variation de température cutanée moyenne et de fréquence cardiaque de sapeurs pompiers professionnels et volontaires lors d'une simulation d'incendie. L'exposition à la chaleur de l'incendie induit une augmentation considérable des paramètres physiologiques en quelques minutes, et ce, aussi bien chez les pompiers professionnels que volontaires.
Conclusion. -
Ces résultats indiquent que le temps passé à combattre l'incendie au plus près, sans risque d'hyperthermie, est très limité."