Carbon disulfide exposure estimate and prevalence of chronic diseases after carbon disulfide poisoning-related occupational diseases

BACKGROUND: In Korea, Carbon disulfide (CS2) toxicity was an important social problem from the late 1980s to the early 1990s but there have been few large-scale studies examining the prevalence of diseases after CS2 exposure discontinuance. So we investigated past working exposure to CS2 characteristics from surviving ex-workers of a rayon manufacturing plant including cumulative CS2 exposure index. Furthermore, we studied the prevalence of their chronic diseases recently after many years. METHODS: We interviewed 633 ex-workers identified as CS2 poisoning-related occupational diseases to determine demographic and occupational characteristics and reviewed their medical records. The work environment measurement data from 1992 was used as a reference. Based on the interviews and foreign measurement documents, weights were assigned to the reference concentrations followed by calculation of individual exposure index, the sum of the portion of each time period multiplied by the concentrations of CS2 during that period. RESULTS: The cumulative exposure index was 128.2 ppm on average. Workers from the spinning, electrical equipment repair, and motor repair departments were exposed to high concentrations of ≥10 ppm. Workers from the maintenance of the ejector, manufacturing of CS2, post-process, refining, maintenance and manufacturing of viscose departments were exposed to low concentrations below 10 ppm. The prevalence for hypertension, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, arrhythmia, psychoneurotic disorder, disorders of the nervous system and sensory organ were 69.2%, 13.9%, 24.8%, 24.5%, 1.3%, 65.7%, 72.4% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We estimated the individual cumulative CS2 exposure based on interviews and foreign measurement documents, and work environment measurement data. Comparing the work environment measurement data from 1992, these values were similar to them. After identified as CS2 poisoning, there are subjects over 70 years of average age with disorders of the nervous system and sensory organs, hypertension, psychoneurotic disorder, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and arrhythmia. Because among ex-workers of the rayon manufacturing plant, only 633 survivors recognized as CS2 poisoning were studied, the others not identified as CS2 poisoning should also be investigated in the future.

Assessment of Cadmium in Blood and Urine of Occupationally Exposed Workers and Renal Dysfunction by Cumulative Exposure Estimate / 대한산업의학회지

88 workers exposed to cadmium were examined at the 12 factories using or producing cadmium in order to know the present state of cadmium exposure and renal dysfunction in 1992. Cadmium in blood and in urine were measured and compared by the 3 exposure level of cadmium in air. Cadmium in blood of low, moderate and high exposure group were 2.5, 3,8 and 7.6 microgram/L, respectively. Cadmium in urine were 1.8(1.3), 3.8(2,6) and 7.9 microgram/L(6.1 microgram/g creatinine) , resrectively. However, there was no relationship between Urinary cadmium and beta(2)-microglobulin. Cumulative exposure estimate (CEE) was calculated by multiplying the mean ambient cadmium level of the factory and working duration. CEE has a high correlation with cadmium in blood and urine, but no relation to beta(2)-microglobulin. Because working durations were relatively shorter than European workers', the highest CEE was just 300 microgram. year/m(3), which was not enough to induce renal tubular dysfunction. This study, however, suggested the possibility that renal tubular dysfunction caused by cadmium could be happened in Korea in the near future.