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Biomedical subjects

M Maroni

Publications and source records attributed to M Maroni.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation to the exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene and xylenes in workers in a power plant fueled with heavy oil].

Occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been demonstrated in many industrial sectors. However, up to date there are few studies in the literature on PAH exposure in thermoelectric power plants. The study was aimed at the evaluation of personal exposure to PAHs in workers of a power plant fueled with heavy oil. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and to benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) was evaluated on power plant workers exposed to heavy fuel oil; the control group consisted of office workers of the same power plant. Altogether 39 subjects were studied, for a total of 84 days of monitoring. Personal environmental exposure, cutaneous exposure and urinary concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), trans,trans-muconic acid (TTMA) and nicotine were measured. Personal environmental exposure to PAHs was very low; only maintenance workers showed exposure to total carcinogenic PAHs significantly higher than controls (median levels 3.05 and 0.88 ng/m3 respectively). All workers showed very low levels of dermal exposure to PAHs (less than 1 ng). The median 1-OHP urinary concentrations were 0.16, 0.11 and 0.08 mumol/mol creatinine in the groups of exposed workers and 0.08 mumol/mol creatinine in the control group. Neither the exposed workers nor the controls showed a significant increase in 1-OHP urinary concentrations across the shift. The regression analysis showed a significant effect of cigarette smoking on urinary 1-OHP, while no association was observed between occupational exposure and diet. Personal environmental exposure levels to BTX were very low. TTMA urinary concentrations of the exposed subjects were similar to those of the controls. No significant increase in the TTMA urinary concentrations was observed across the shift and, as expected, smokers showed higher values than non-smokers. The study did not show a measurable intake of PAHs and BTX in power plant workers that could be ascribed to occupational exposure, thus confirming the efficacy of the protective measures in force.

Benzene↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Adaptation of the TriTEST TM for the investigation of blood samples for a multicenter study taken to a single laboratory].

BACKGROUND: Immunotoxicological studies in humans are usually carried out via the determination of some selected immune parameters in subjects occupationally and/or environmentally exposed to immunotoxic substance. One of the most often measured parameters is the determination of lymphocyte subsets, which needs to be carried out in a very short time (a few hours) after blood collection. This is the major problem limiting the determination of lymphocyte subpopulations in field studies, where samples are usually collected directly at the workplace, and very often at the end of the workshift. Unfortunately, these collection modalities significantly prolong the time between collection and analysis. The problem is more evident in multicentric studies, where a further problem is represented by the time needed to send samples to the laboratory. OBJECTIVE: Since an immune evaluation was planned, including the determination of lymphocyte subpopulations CD4 (T-helper), CD8 (T-suppressor cytotoxic) and CD16/CD56 (natural killer) in the project "Assessing health effects in man from exposure to low doses of inorganic mercury in environmental and occupational settings", a method was developed for performing cytofluorimetric analysis in "field studies". METHODS: The method is based on commercially-available kits, and involves in loco treatment. Whole blood is labeled with monoclonal antibodies, and fixed samples immediately after collection. After the treatment, the samples are ready for flow cytometric analysis, which may be performed after a two-day period from sample collection. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The method described is adequate for immunotoxicity testing in field studies because it prolongs the maximum latency time from collection and cytofluorimetric analysis up to 48 hours. A second interesting characteristic of the method is the possibility of using whole blood, without any need of either complex manipulations or particular equipment.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[From industrial hygiene and toxicology to environmental hygiene and toxicology: problems and prospects].

BACKGROUND: Low-dose exposures to mixtures of substances have received increasing interest and they involve many different occupational and environmental situations. The presence in the population (working and general) of groups of susceptible individuals is an important public health issue that poses new challenges to science and society. OBJECTIVES: To discuss the evolution from traditional occupational hygiene and toxicology to the new environmental (general and occupational) hygiene and toxicology. RESULTS: Environmental hygiene and toxicology have remarkably improved analytical tools available to solve most of the analytical issues posed by the present exposure scenario. Biomarkers of low-dose exposure, early effects and individual susceptibility are being intensively investigated. CONCLUSIONS: The challenge in this field for the coming years appears to be not the analytical but the medical and ethical implications.

Disease Susceptibility↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The efficacy of personal prevention measures in controlling the exposure to metals of welders].

Biological monitoring of welders employed in a power plant showed urinary nickel levels largely exceeding the reference values (Ni-U welders mean = 43.2, S.D. = 22.1 micrograms/24 h; Ni-U reference values mean = 2.7, S.D. = 1.4 micrograms/24 h). Subsequently urinary excretion levels of other metals (Cr, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, Al, Pb) were measured for a more complete assessment of occupational exposure of these subjects; only aluminum and lead were found to slightly exceed the reference values and correlate with urinary nickel levels. As a consequence of these results, some adjustments in personal prevention measures were introduced at the workplace; the subsequent biological monitoring checks showed a progressive reduction in urinary nickel excretion levels over time in all welders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Definition of acceptable operator exposure levels (AOELs) to pesticides].

A guidance document entitled "Recommended method for the establishment of Acceptable Operator Exposure Levels" has been prepared within the EU 5th Framework program. The paper describes the main outcomes of the project and the issues that apply particularly to agricultural workers and bystanders and the difficulties in developing an agreed uniform approach. The scientific basis of the process is discussed, to be used by the European Commission and Member States when making decision about the inclusion of an active substance in Annex 1 of Directive 91/414/EEC.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiologic research on asbestos related disease in ENEL SpA electricity production plant maintenance].

Since many years research programs have been set up to study the relationship between asbestos occupational exposure and development of asbestos-related lung diseases in electricity production plants workers. In the year 2000 a new study of asbestos-related lung abnormalities prevalence in italian geothermal and idrothermal power plant maintenance workers was planned. The cohort comprised 3891 subjects. To meet the criteria, only workers in service for at least six months before 1990 and still in service at power plants in May 2000 were included in the study; chest X-rays were taken and made anonymous. Independent reading of X-rays was made by two groups of specialists, and a third reading of selected discordant readings X-rays was made by another group of specialists. A further diagnostic protocol (including HRCT) was planned when two out of three readings showed the presence of asbestos related lung abnormalities. The analysis was made on 3063 subjects (78.7% of the cohort). The number of asbestos-related abnormalities in two out of three X-ray readings was 122 (4%). The further diagnostic protocol, that included occupational and pathological anamnesis and HRCT, confirmed an asbestos-related occupational lung abnormalities in 41 cases (1.3% out of 3063 subjects). The prevalence of asbestos-related lung abnormalities among 3063 power plant maintenance workers was 1.3%. If all the cases of lung abnormalities so far detected (data are still provisional) had developed only in the power plant environment, and not in previous working activities, the prevalence of lung abnormalities would be extremely low. These data support the evidence of limited exposure levels to asbestos in this working environment And bears witness to the success of preventive measures to control this specific risk.

Asbestos↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Occupational exposure to fungicides in floriculture in Ecuador].

Floriculture represents one of the major sources of income in the Ecuadorian Andean Region that can be carried out either in open fields as in greenhouses by using chemical compounds, growing hormones and xenobiotics. Among pesticides, ethylenbisdithiocarbamate (EBDTCs) fungicides represent the most extensively used. The aim of the study was the assessment of exposure to EBDTCs in Ecuadorian floricultural workers by the determination of the urinary excretion of the main metabolite of these compounds, ethylenethiourea (ETU). For this purpose, thirty-six floriculture workers and 7 unexposed healthy subjects were recruited for the study. Median level of ETU excretion in agricultural workers before the work shift was 3.2 micrograms/g creatinine, ranging from 0.4 to 34.5 micrograms/g creatinine. After pesticide application, urinary ETU increased to 6.2 micrograms/g creatinine (1.5-26.5) microgram/g creatinine. Urinary ETU resulted significantly higher in overall workers, taken as pre- and post-shift samples, when compared to controls (0.7, 0.4-2.1 micrograms/g creatinine, p < 0.01). According to jobs, applicators showed the highest levels of ETU excretion whereas growing, post-harvesting and maintenance workers showed similar levels of exposure. Higher level ETU excretion was observed in greenhouse compared to open field workers.

Agriculture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Risk profiles in agriculture: activities in the region of Lombardy].

Agriculture represents a very complex scenario that needs proper tools. To this aim, in the frame of Special Project "La Prevenzione nell'impiego di Antiparassitari in Agricoltura" promoted by the Region of Lombardy, profiles of exposure and/or risk have been identified as valid approach able to define particular conditions of exposure and risk for the operator in particular settings. The evaluation necessarily needs to identify the most important parameters affecting exposure and their extent on magnitude of exposure. Therefore, field studies should be further performed in order to confirm and improve the profile. The identification of profiles of exposure and risk is an activity still in progress that need to be carefully set up and standardised. The team involved in the study identified priorities deserving much attention in Lombardy, and planned a three years programme aimed at define the profile of exposure and risk in viticulture, maize crop, rice growing, nursery gardening, horticulture in greenhouses, maintenance of gardens, and poplar growing.

Agriculture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Biological monitoring and risk assessment].

Risk assessment in occupational medicine is the part of risk analysis where physicians also contribute. A risk is the probability of an adverse health effect and derives from the hazard posed by a given chemical and from exposure characteristics. Due to the complexity of this process, models are used in occupational medicine, where risk factors are identified and exposure estimated, combined with an understanding of the severity of possible effects. Theoretically, the advantages of biological monitoring are obvious. However, the paucity of available data on biological monitoring limits its uses. Moreover, the utilization of data on biological monitoring requires evaluation of their significance. Examples are discussed to highlight advantages and limitations of biological monitoring data in both hazard and risk assessments. They include exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, other carcinogens, paraquat and polychlorinated biphenyls.

Benzene↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Indoor air quality and occupational health, past and present].

The expression "indoor pollution" of residential, office and public buildings appeared for the first time in western societies toward the end of the '60s to indicate a complex phenomenon as important to public health as that of the "outdoor air pollution" or even more so. The demonstration of the toxic effects of passive smoking, radon, and other chemical and biological pollutants present in office and residential environments has prompted a wide spectrum of research into health risks, has led to position-taking by national and international authorities, and has given rise to a new scientific multi-disciplinary field of research, with respective international associations, scientific journals, and international conferences attended by thousands of participants. In Italy, since 1988, several scientific conferences have been organised and these have led to institutional initiatives such as the Commission set up in 1990 by the Italian Environment Ministry and the Commission set up in 1998 by the Italian Ministry of Health. The latter produced a Prevention Plan for Health Protection and Promotion in Indoor Environments which, for the first time, tackles indoor air pollution in a systematic way and provides an overall picture of the health and economic impact of the main illnesses related to indoor pollution on society. Decree 626/94 has also been affected, in some way, by these new scientific findings and in art. 33 has produced an update of the old art. 9 of the Decree 303/56. The attention to the subject of indoor air quality, in addition to that of offices and commercial buildings, has turned in more recent years to special environments such as schools and hospitals, resulting in the production of important publications. The modern frontier of research on indoor and outdoor air hazards is represented by fine air particulate matter. A large number of worldwide epidemiological studies have revealed that the daily variation in fine and ultra-fine particle air concentration in urban areas is associated with the simultaneous daily variation in the morbidity and mortality of the general population. The particle-linked increase in mortality has been attributed to respiratory and cardiovascular toxic effects, but the mechanisms by which urban air particles (indoor and outdoor) induce worsening of respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases are so far unknown and are the subject of intense investigation. Workers employed in the tertiary sector (offices, trade, banking, hospitals, schools, etc.) now account for 80% of the Italian labour force and the occupational physician is increasingly requested to assess the risk and monitor the health status of tertiary sector workers. These working environments are believed to be healthy and lacking in specific health risk factors, but such a belief is often only the result of the limited knowledge that employers, workers and the physicians themselves have about these environments and the results of international research studies over the last forty years. This issue is surely at the centre of the interest of our discipline and of public health throughout the developed western world and represents an ongoing challenge for the occupational physician, with new research topics and new problems to deal with. Recent issues include SARS and the defence of buildings and the air of working environments against terrorism attacks, such as the use of anthrax dust.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Risk assessment and management of occupational exposure to pesticides in agriculture.

Nearly 50% of the world labour force is employed in agriculture. Over the last 50 years, agriculture has deeply changed with a massive utilisation of pesticides and fertilisers to enhance crop protection and production, food quality and food preservation. Pesticides are also increasingly employed for public health purposes and for domestic use. Pesticide are unique chemicals as they are intrinsically toxic for several biological targets, are deliberately spread into the environment, and their toxicity has a limited species selectivity. Pesticide toxicity depends on the compound family and is generally greater for the older compounds; in humans, they are responsible for acute poisonings as well as for long term health effects, including cancer and adverse effects on reproduction. Due to their intrinsic toxicity, in most countries a specific and complex legislation prescribes a thorough risk assessment process for pesticides prior to their entrance to the market (pre-marketing risk assessment). The post-marketing risk assessment takes place during the use of pesticides and aims at assessing the risk for exposed operators. The results of the risk assessment are the base for the health surveillance of exposed workers. Occupational exposure to pesticides in agriculture concerns product distributors, mixers and loaders, applicators, bystanders, and rural workers re-entering the fields shortly after treatment. Assessing and managing the occupational health risks posed by the use of pesticides in agriculture is a complex but essential task for occupational health specialists and toxicologists. In spite of the economic and social importance of agriculture, the health protection of agricultural workforce has been overlooked for too many years, causing an heavy tribute paid in terms of avoidable diseases, human sufferance, and economic losses. Particularly in the developing countries, where agricultural work is one of the predominant job, a sustainable model of development calls for more attention to occupational risks in agriculture. The experience of many countries has shown that prevention of health risk caused by pesticides is technically feasible and economically rewarding for the individuals and the whole community. A proper risk assessment and management of pesticide use is an essential component of this preventative

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The International Centre for Pesticide Safety.

The International Centre for Pesticide Safety (ICPS) was inaugurated in March 1990. Coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and in collaboration with research and university institutions, the Centre operates in the following areas of activity: information and documentation on pesticide toxicity; epidemiological, toxicological and clinical research; training and education; laboratory research. ICPS is also a centre of meetings and courses on permanent education. This paper reports on the activities carried out so far and on the future programmes of ICPS.

Europe↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Enclosed environments and health].

Problems related to Indoor Air Quality are subject of study since about twenty years. New architectural criteria, new building materials and increasing demands of energy saving have progressively changed residences, offices and all non-industrial indoor environments. This paper present a review of the IAQ-related issues from sources characterization, to pollutant assessment and definition of effects on human health.

Air Microbiology↗