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Biomedical subjects

E Poulsen

Publications and source records attributed to E Poulsen.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1971

Back muscle strength, lifting, and stooped working postures.

When lifting loads and working in a forward stooped position, the muscles of the back rather than the ligaments and bony structures of the spine should overcome the gravitational forces. Formulae, based on measurements of back muscle strength, for prediction of maximal loads to be lifted, and for the ability to sustain work in a stooped position, have been worked out and tested in practical situations. From tests with 50 male and female subjects the simplest prediction formulae for maximum loads were: max. load = 1.10 x isometric back muscle strength for men; and max. load = 0.95 x isometric back muscle strength - 8 kg for women. Some standard values for maximum lifts and permissible single and repeated lifts have been calculated for men and women separately and are given in Table 1. From tests with 65 rehabilitees it was found that the maximum isometric strength of the back muscles measured at shoulder height should exceed 2/3 of the body weight, if fatigue and/or pain in the back muscles is to be avoided during work in a standing stooped position.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Safety evaluation of substances consumed as technical ingredients (food additives).

The different types of acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) are described as used by the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the EEC Scientific Committee for Food (SCF). The allocation is discussed of a full ADI or a temporary ADI, and examples are given for the establishment (or withdrawal) of these ADIs. The flavours cinnamyl anthranillate and the solvent 2-nitropropane (both withdrawn), the sweeteners cyclamate and saccharin and the antioxidant BHA (all three changed) but not abolished. For BHA and saccharin the ADI was retained by both committees in spite of some evidence of carcinogenicity to experimental animals. ADI--'not specified' is specially discussed and it is recommended that numerical ADIs are used whenever possible. With an ADI--'not specified' it should be stated which use (and intake) levels are toxicologically acceptable. Some compounds evaluated by the two committees are discussed, e.g. the colours: Allura red AC, erythrosine, canthaxanthin and the caramels; three anti-oxidants: BHA, BHT and the gallates; the sweeteners: polyols, aspartame, saccharin and cyclamates. Four recommendations are made: (1) a numerical basis be given for the levels allocated an ADI--'not specified' or 'acceptable'; (2) lowering of the conventional safety factor be considered when the effects found are trivial--higher safety factors be considered when the toxic effects are serious or even irreversible; (3) ADIs should, whenever possible, be based on a combination of human and animal data; (4) ADIs might be allocated to compounds indicating animal carcinogenicity, if the compound is non-genotoxic, the mechanism clearly secondary and/or species-specific.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Case study: erythrosine.

Erythrosine (FD & C Red No. 3) is an iodine-containing food colour which was used as an example in the application of the proposed approach of data-derived safety factors. The effect of erythrosine on the thyroid and the mechanism by which the effect is induced has been central to the discussion of the establishment of an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), or not, and a short account is given of the effect of erythrosine on the thyroid. The evaluation of erythrosine as a secondary tumorigenic agent was based on the evaluations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the Scientific Committee for Food of the Commission of the European Communities (SCF). In the proposed decision tree scheme, three different possibilities were examined. One was based on the long-term data and the second on the hormone data in the rat; the third was based on the NOEL for hormonal changes in humans. The three approaches with different NOEL and default values resulted in the following ADIs: 0.25, 0.3 and 0.1 mg/kg bw. The cases are discussed and it is concluded that the ADI based on the NOEL in human studies seems most appropriate. As there is most uncertainty about the default value for human pharmacokinetic variability, it is suggested that further human studies might elucidate this point.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Back muscle strength and weight limits in lifting burdens.

When lifting loads, the muscles of the back, rather than the ligaments and the bony structures of the spine, should overcome the gravitational forces. Formulas, based on measurements of the back muscle strength for prediction of maximum loads to be lifted, have been worked out and tested in practical situations. From tests with 50 male and female subjects, the simplest prediction formulas for maximum loads were as follows: for men, maximum load = 1.10 X isometric back muscles strength; for women, maximum load = 0.95 x isometric back muscle strength minus 8 kg.

Adult↗