Occupational illnesses hazardous chemicals

Thus, there is a clear need to establish the relationship between the health effects of hazardous chemical agents in the environment and the level of occupational exposure to the body by means of an occupational exposure limit, in which a reference figure for the concentration of a chemical agent is set. In fact, occupational exposure limits (OELs) have been a feature of the industrialized world since the early 1950s. They were introduced, primarily in the United States, at a time when measures to prevent occupational diseases were considered more beneficial than compensating victims, and in this sense OELs have played an important part in the control of occupational illnesses. 

In addition to the Civil Rights Act, other laws and regulations affect the management ofhuman resources. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop and enforce workplace standards designed to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths (OSHA, 2007). Of particular relevance to pharmacy are OSHA s ergonomic workplace standards and its rules for preventing exposure to hazardous chemicals and bloodborne pathogens. 

There is little doubt that the identification and control of hazardous chemicals is necessary to protect human health and the environment. An assessment of the occupational health benefits of REACH estimates that improved chemical risk assessment and risk management can reduce compensation for worker-related illness by between 18 and 54 billion over a 30-year period [190]. The long-term benefits of improved environmental protection resulting from the identification of hazardous chemicals under REACH (e.g., avoided costs for carrying out environmental remediation) can readily result in savings of hundreds of million Euro per substance [190]. Based on World Bank estimates that chemicals and chemical pollution causes between 0.6% and 2.5% of diseases in developed countries, the European Commission calculated a saving of 50 billion on health and medical care within the EU over 30 years could result if REACH can reduce the occurrence of disease by 0.1% [282]. 

Before embarking on tests involving the use of solvents or other chemicals, some of which are described in this chapter, it is important to consider the health and safety risks associated with such materials and how to minimize them. In the UK, the use of hazardous materials is regulated by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (CoSHH). The main objective of the Regulations is to reduce occupational ill health by setting out a simple framework for controlling hazardous substances in the workplace (Health and Safety Executive, 2007). 

Often an association can be made between a chemical hazard and an occupational illness or injury. This requires an understanding of the dose-response relationship. A dose-response relationship means that an increasing effect can be correlated with an... 

Occupational illness may involve skin diseases or disorders caused by work exposure to chemicals, plants or other substances. They may be respiratory conditions associated with breathing hazardous biological agents, chemicals, dust, gases, vqjors, or fumes at work. They may also be poisonings, noise-induced hearing loss, or other occupational illnesses. 

Chapter 10—Sick Occupational Illnesses—Occupational illnesses often do not occur in real time, but have a latency period before their manifestation. When illnesses arise where symptoms occur immediately, the acute results can often follow a cause scenario similar to that of an injury. But, when exposures to chemicals, radiation, noise, biological entities, or environmental extremes transpire, effects are often not immediate. The approach to prevention has to be addressed before the event. In this chapter, illnesses and their preventive approaches will be addressed by following a normal industrial hygiene approach to head off possible occupationally related illnesses. The emphasis is on identifying the potential hazards to health and how to best preclude them or protect your workforce from exposure. 

Health-related hazards must be identified (recognized), evaluated, and controlled to prevent occupational illnesses that come from exposure to them. Health-related hazards come in a variety of forms, such as chemical, physical, ergonomic, or biological ... 

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The act is a federal statute that aims to protect employees in the workplace from occupational illness and injuries caused by exposure to biological and physical hazards and hazardous chemicals. When Congress passed this act, it empowered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to regulate certain aspects of the workplace, thereby reducing or eliminating the incidence of chemically induced occupational illnesses and injuries. 

The field of occupational medicine is composed of several different types of experts. The occupational physician is a doctor who specializes in occupational medicine. He or she is trained to identify and treat occupational illnesses and diseases. The industrial hygienist, whose job it is to inspect the health and safety of workplaces, is not typically a physician. Industrial hygienists are experts in the detection of chemicals or hazards in the workplace. They use a different set of tools and do not treat patients but rather search for the causes of occupational illnesses. Reflecting this division, occupational health textbooks are typically ordered by either hazard or organ system. 

Reports of occupational diseases sent to the California Department of Public Health reveal strikingly that it is one world so far as hazards to health among occupational groups are concerned. The same chemical may cause illness to the factory worker who manufactures it, to the truckers and stevedores who handle and transport it, to the farmer who uses the material, to the packers and canners of the food treated with it, and to the person who consumes the foods that may be contaminated with it. 

Fig. 2-7. Filling 75-mm artillery shells with mustard agent at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. Facilities designed to fill shells with chemical agents were notoriously hazardous. Anecdotal reports from mustard shell-filling plants indicated that over several months, the entire labor force could be expected to become ill. These workers apparent nonchalance to the hazards of mustard would not be tolerated by the occupational medicine standards of a later era (see Figure 2-31). Photograph Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

The wide variety of chemicals produced and very poor overall health and safety statistics, make the assessment of occupationally determined disease and ill-health particularly difficult. Taking this a stage further, other than disasters or accidents, where the effect on workers and the environment can be relatively easy to observe, the long-term impact, particularly from low levels of new or poorly studied materials, is a particular problem. Epidemiology, (the study of social groups and patterns of disease as a means of determining causes ) is difficult due to the varied exposure conditions and the varied significance of other factors. Exposure to chemicals at work is one hazard that can be controlled. 

OSHA considers skin diseases as illnesses caused by exposure to chemicals, plants, or other hazardous substances. OSHA dehnes respiratory conditions or illnesses as breathing-related problems associated with pneumonitis, pharyngitis, rhinitis, farmer s lung, beryllium disease, tuberculosis, occupational asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypersensitivity. Examples can include heatstroke, hypothermia, decompression sickness, effects of ionizing radiation, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays, anthrax, and bloodbome pathogen diseases. 

The main hazards are of three kinds, physical, chemical and biological, although occupational psychological factors may also cause illness. 

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