Incidents body fluid exposure

A sample of 475 staff from 10 hospitals in Costa Rica, Gimeno et al. (2005) found that safety culture was related to self-reported work-related injuries. Another study of 789 hospital-based healthcare workers in the USA, found that experienced blood and body fluid exposure incidents for workers were lower when senior management support, safety feedback and training were perceived favourably (Gershon et al. 2000). In Japan, reduced needle-stick and sharp injuries to hospital workers were associated with safety culture factors, such as being involved in health and safety matters (Smith et al. 2010). In our Scottish hospital sample, we collected information on self-reports of worker injuries, as well as observed errors affecting patients. 

There is little reported information on industrial exposure, although chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory tract has been described in a worker exposed to hot vapor arising from oxalic acid. Ingestion of as little as 5 g has caused fatalities there is rapid onset of shock, collapse, and convulsions. The convulsions are thought to be the result of hypocalcemia due to the calcium-complexing action of oxalic acid, which depresses the level of ionized calcium in body fluids. Marked renal damage from deposition of calcium oxalate may occur. A study of railroad car cleaners with heavy exposure to oxalic acid solutions found an increased incidence of urinary stones. There was a 53% incidence of urolithiasis in exposed workers compared with a rate of 12% in unexposed workers from the same company. ... 

The primary function of the kidneys is to rid the body of waste materials that are either ingested or produced by metabolism, and to control the volume and composition of the body fluids. The toxins absorbed by the different routes are biotransformed and enter the blood. They are then eliminated through the urine, feces, and air. Since the kidneys receive approximately a quarter of the cardiac output, it is an important organ for the exposure of toxicants and their metabolites. Recent incidents of pet food toxicity and diethylene glycol toxicity indicate that contamination of animal and human food and drugs, respectively, can lead to severe mortahty and morbidity as a result of renal toxicity. 

Dermal exposures to liquid ammonia or concentrated solutions and/or ammonia gas are frequently occupationally related and produce cutaneous bums, blisters, and lesions of varying degrees of severity. Bums can be severe enough to require skin grafting, and loss of the epidermal layer increases body fluid loss and incidence of infection. While most ammonia exposures are occupational, household products containing ammonia can also cause dermal injury. Several cases of young children (2-3 years old) who bit into ammonia pellets/capsules and sustained oral and esophageal lesions have been reported in the literature. 

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