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Medical News: Hairdressers at Risk for Occupational Asthma – in Pulmonology, Asthma from MedPage Today.

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The relationship between multiple myeloma and occupational exposure to six chlorinated solvents
Laura S Gold et al. 2011

Evidence from a relatively large case-control study (181 cases (71% response) vs. 481 controls (52% response)) suggests that exposures to certain chlorinated solvents may be associated with increased incidence of multiple myeloma; however, the study is limited by relatively low participation (52%) among controls

What this paper adds:

• The aetiology of multiple myeloma is poorly understood.

• The purpose of this research was to examine relationships between occupational exposures to chlorinated solvents and multiple myeloma.

• This research provides evidence that certain chlorinated solvents, most notably trichloroethylene, are associated with increased incidence of multiple myeloma.

• While results were less clear, exposure to 1,1,1-trichloroethane, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride and chloroform also conferred increased risk of multiple myeloma in our population.

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Interesting study on a preventive intervention for occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Workers who could daily monitor their noise exposure “at-ear” experienced no further worsening of high frequency hearing 4 years after the intervention. This might be a promising approach to enhance the situation of this frequent occupational disease.

Effect of daily noise exposure monitoring on annual rates of hearing loss in industrial workers
Peter M Rabinowitz, Deron Galusha, Sharon R Kirsche, Mark R Cullen, Martin D Slade, Christine Dixon-Ernst
Occup Environ Med 2011;68:414-418

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To evaluate the respiratory health of municipal solid waste workers (MSWWs), Greek researchers studied 184 municipal employees of Keratsini (104 MSWWs and 80 controls) with questionnaire and spirometry. Spirometry revealed a reduced mean forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (as a percentage of predicted values) in MSWWs compared with controls. After adjustment for smoking status, only the decline in FVC was statistically significant (P < 0.05).
Prevalence of all respiratory symptoms was higher in MSWWs than in controls. After adjustment for confounding factors, the difference reached statistical significance (P < 0.05) for morning cough, cough on exertion and sore throat. Although this study had some limitations like small sample size, the results indicate a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms and a greater decrease in lung function in MSWWs.

M. Athanasiou, G. Makrynos and G. Dounias, Respiratory health of municipal solid waste workers,
Occup Med (Lond) (2010) 60 (8): 618-623

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Australian researchers studied the possible persisting effects to color vision of exposure to formulations containing neurotoxins during F-111 fuel tank maintenance. They studied 3 groups: 512 exposed personnel, 458 technical-trade comparisons, and 330 non-technical comparisons. Forty five percent of all participants had blue-yellow color deficient vision (CDV) in at least one eye. Deficiencies of this nature are caused by environmental exposures. There were statistically significant differences in CCI a blue-yellow confusion in the exposed group versus technical group (odds ratio 1.4: 95% CI 1.1–1.7). No differences were observed between the exposed group and the non-technical group. The researchers concluded that the results indicate reduced color discrimination among the exposed subjects compared to one of two control groups. The findings may be due to previous exposure to solvents among the air force personnel

Maya Guest et al. 2010, Impairment of color vision in aircraft maintenance workers
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health (13 November 2010), pp. 1-11

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The mechanisms that produce tinnitus are not fully understood. From anecdotal evidence we know that there may be a link between mobile phone use and tinnitus. Austrian researchers did an individually matched case-control study to study this relation in 100 patients and 100 controls. They found that mobile phone use up to the index date (onset of tinnitus) on the same side as the tinnitus did not have significantly elevated ORs for regular use and intensity or for cumulative hours of use. But the risk estimate was significantly elevated for prolonged use (≥4 years) of a mobile phone (OR 1.95; CI 1.00 to 3.80). They concluded that mobile phone use should be included in future investigations as a potential risk factor for developing tinnitus.

Hans-Peter Hutter et al. 2010, Tinnitus and mobile phone use
Occup Environ Med 2010;67:804-808

Crunchy numbers

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 5 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 24 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 208 posts. There were 9 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 237kb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was March 22nd with 163 views. The most popular post that day was Smoking ban good for your health.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were wellsphere.com, stanford.wellsphere.com, safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com, search.aol.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for no smoking, skin cancer, smoking, cyclist, and women cyclists.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Smoking ban good for your health September 2008

2

Genital problems in competitive women cyclists October 2009

3

How to influence health behaviour to prevent skin cancer? January 2010

4

Vibration induced white fingers September 2008

5

Top 10 of most hazardous jobs, at least in the USA May 2008

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An accumulating body of research demonstrates that risk of suicide varies between occupational groups. There is preliminary evidence to suggest that veterinary surgeons are a group at risk. A systematic review of studies of rates and methods of suicide in the veterinary profession shows that there appears to be an elevated risk of suicide for veterinary surgeons in several countries.

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NIOSH study confirms that despite all the knowledge on the risks of exposure to flour, employees of large commercial bakeries are still at risk of sensitization and respiratory symptoms from exposure to high levels of bakery associatied antiges (BAA). Higher exposure comes with more work-related symptoms.

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At the Netherlands Center of Occupational Diseases earlier this year a question was asked about complaints of back and legs in a construction worker exposed to vibration through his feet. At that time no relevant literature was found in an initial search, now there is this interesting  case-report of a 54-year-old miner presented with a chief complaint of blanching and pain in his toes. He had a history of foot-transmitted vibration exposure over 18 years. The complaints at his feet were analogous to complaints of hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) occurring at the hands of workers handling vibrating tools.