ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the health status of workers exposed to occupational mercury, and to provide the theoretical basis for formulating reasonable health monitoring and targeted protection measures. Methods: In November 2021, 1353 mercury-exposed workers who underwent occupational health examination in a hospital in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from 2018 to 2021 were collected as research subjects. By analyzing their blood pressure, electrocardiogram, blood routine, liver function and urine β2-microglobulin and urinary mercury in different gender, age, length of service, industry and enterprise scale, and the health status. And the influencing factors of urinary mercury were evaluated. Results: Among 1353 workers exposed to mercury, there were 1002 males (74.1%), the average age was (37.2±9.8) years old, and the length of service was 3.1 (2.0, 8.0) years. The abnormal rates of physical examination, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, blood routine, liver function, urinary β2-microglobulin and urinary mercury were 73.9% (1000/1353), 12.3% (166/1353), 30.2% (408/1353), 59.9% (810/1353), 32.5% (440/1353), 15.2% (205/1353) and 2.2% (30/1353), respectively. The abnormal rates of blood pressure, blood routine, liver function, urinary β2-microglobulin and urinary mercury in male workers were higher than those in female workers (P<0.05). The abnormal rates of workers' blood pressure and physical examination results increased with the increase of age and length of service, while the abnormal rate of electrocardiogram results were opposite (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the abnormal rates of blood pressure, blood routine, urinary β2-microglobulin and physical examination results among workers of different enterprises and different industries (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the workers with age ≥30 years old, microminiature enterprises, abnormal physical examination results and urinary β2-microglobulin were the susceptible population with abnormal urinary mercury (P<0.05) . Conclusion: The occupational health status of mercury workers in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is not optimistic, and the health monitoring of microminiature enterprises and older workers should be improved to effectively protect the physical and mental health of workers.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Blood Pressure , Health Status , Mental Health , Mercury , Physical Examination , Occupational ExposureABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of pH value and fluoride ions on the corrosion resistance of pure Ti and Ni-Cr-Ti alloy in the artificial saliva.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Electrochemical technique was used to measure the electric potential of corrosion (Ecorr), current density of corrosion (Icorr) and polarization resistance (Rp) of pure titanium and Ti-Ni-Cr alloy in the artificial saliva with different pH value and fluoride concentrations. After electrochemical analysis, microstructure and phase diffraction were examined by FSEM.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>With the lower pH value, the Ecorr and Icorr of pure titanium and Ti-Ni-Cr alloy increased, the Rp decreased, there was a significant difference (P<0.05). The Ecorr and Icorr increased markedly, the Rp significantly reduced in the artificial saliva containing 0.2% NaF (P<0.01). FSEM showed that pure titanium and Ti-Ni-Cr alloy surface corrosion, pure titanium in the artificial saliva containing 0.2% NaF was most serious.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Lower pH value decreases the corrosion resistance of pure titanium and Ti-Ni-Cr alloy and the artificial saliva containing fluoride ions decreases the corrosion resistance of pure titanium.</p>