Second-hand Smoke Exposure and Urine Cotinine Levels by Occupation in the Busan, Ulsan, Kyeongnam Provinces / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: Exposure to second-hand smoke varied by smoking rate in the workplace and no-smoking policies. The purpose of this study was to estimate the status of second-hand smoke exposure by occupation through urine cotinine analysis in Busan, Ulsan, and Kyeongnam provinces. METHODS: Data was obtained from the National Institute of Environmental Research of Korea as 'The 2008 Korea National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in Human Body'. We selected 629 non-smokers who lived in Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam provinces. General and occupational characteristics were gathered using a structured questionnaire. Urine cotinine concentrations were analyzed by a gas chromatograph-mass selective detector. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Chi-square test, Student t-test and ANOVA. RESULTS: The geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) of urine cotinine concentration was 17.11 (2.74) ng/ml. The urine cotinine concentration of the middle school graduate group (18.47 (2.86) ng/ml) was higher than the college graduate group (15.64 (2.60) ng/ml, p=0.212). Also, the cotinine concentration of current drinkers (18.98 (2.47) ng/ml) was higher than non-drinkers (16.15 (2.88) ng/ml, p=0.054). The proportion who smelled smoke was higher in workers (38.5%) than in non-workers (29.7%, p=0.02). Therefore, urine cotinine concentration was higher in workers (17.29 (2.66) ng/ml) than in non-workers (16.97 (2.81) ng/ml) but not at a statistically significant amount (p=0.826). In addition, cotinine concentration between the group who smelled smoke (20.45 (2.42) ng/ml) and the group who did not smelled smoke (15.53 (2.78) ng/ml) was significantly different (p=0.016) in workers but not in non-workers (17.08 (2.42) ng/ml vs 16.92 (2.98) ng/ml, p=0.942). According to the National Center for Health Statistics occupational categories in the US and the Korea Standard Classification of Occupations, the urine cotinine concentration of white collar workers such as technical workers and administrators, professional specialists, and managers was higher (18.01 (2.55) ng/ml) than that of blue collar workers such as plant and machine operators and assemblers, elementary occupations, and craft and related trades workers (15.36 (3.48) ng/ml). CONCLUSIONS: The workplace is an important contributor to second-hand smoke exposure in Busan, Ulsan and Kyeongnam provinces. Unlike in advanced countries, where anti-smoking policies have been implemented, urine cotinine concentration in people in Busan, Ulsan and Kyeongnam provinces was higher in the white collar group than in the blue collar group. This result might be due to a higher indoor second-hand smoking rate of workplaces in these areas. Further studies are needed to evaluate the correlation between regional characteristics of industries, anti-smoking policies in the workplace, smoking rates and urine cotinine concentrations of workers.

Cognition and Practice on Medical Information Protection of Iudustrial Health Care Manager of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: This research aimed to know the actual condition and problems of medical information protection at a workplace with the target of industrial health care managers of small and medium-sized enterprises. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was given to industrial health-care managers of 216 enterprises from March 15 to May 17, 2010. The questionnaire was produced by referring to the Act on Personal Information Protection of Public Institutions, etc. This research evaluated agreement of cognition and practice according to 10 items of medical information protection using kappa and cross-analysis of significant factors between cognition and practice of medical information protection and general characteristics. RESULTS: Cognition about medical information protection appeared to be 85.4-97.1% and its practice appeared to be 44.1-95.3%, so practice was lower than cognition. In addition, the agreement of cognition and practice appeared significantly low (kappa 0.082-0.387). The practice of medical information protection tended to be lower when the managers were older and held a higher job title. Health examination results were being delivered only to workers except for an employer (94.2%), but there were many industrial health-care managers who felt discomfort about their work in group occupational health-care systems (58.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The practice of protecting medical information by industrial health-care managers was clearly lower than the cognition. Therefore, introduction of educational programs about personal information protection and provision of an independent place for group occupational health care service is urgent. In addition, in order to use the health examination results conveniently in group occupational health services, an institutional complement is necessary.

Pulmonary Functions and Related Factors in Shipyard Workers / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors which affect pulmonary function in shipyard workers in order to build a body of basic information that can be used to prevent and manage pulmonary disorders in the future. METHODS: We studied the respiratory symptoms, smoking history, chest radiographies, and pulmonary functions of 793 workers associated with two shipyards from April 2009 to July 2009. The workers were subdivided into 3 groups by job type: welders, grinders, and machinist-managers. The data was analyzed according to job type and other possible impact factors. RESULTS: Significant differences among job type were seen with dyspnea and coughing during working hours and in the morning. In pulmonary functions, there were significant differences in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) (except FEV1/FVC%) among job types. Grinders especially showed significantly lower figures in the indices of FEV1, FVC, and MMEF. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary function was significantly lower in grinders. Grinders seem to be affected by exposure to a combination of dust particles (silica, lead, and manganese) and irritant gases in the workplace. These results suggested that workers and health officials should work together to adopt technical preventive measures, such as having well- ventilated work areas and appropriate respiratory protective devices.