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.

Implicações de enxugamento para ex-trabalhadores de empresas estatais / Implications of layoff programs for ex-workers of state companies

O contexto produtivo brasileiro passou por uma série de transformações nas últimas décadas do século XX. Dentre elas está a reforma do Estado, que impulsionou programas de privatização e enxugamento de empresas estatais, com repercussões para a sociedade e os trabalhadores envolvidos. Para caracterizar esse fenômeno, foi realizado um estudo comparativo de casos sobre as implicações psicossociais de programas de reestruturação e privatização para ex-trabalhadores de duas empresas (energia elétrica e telecomunicações). Trata-se de pesquisa de caráter exploratório-descritivo, de natureza qualitativa. As informações foram coletadas por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com ex-trabalhadores aposentados ou demitidos. Foi realizada a análise dos conteúdos das entrevistas. Os sujeitos, mesmo evidenciando a compreensão dos aspectos conjunturais determinantes dos processos de privatização, ressentiram-se com a quebra do contrato formal e psicológico estabelecido anteriormente com as empresas. As mudanças e os desligamentos implicaram em intenso sofrimento psicológico e alterações na vida pessoal e profissional dos entrevistados.

The Brazilian productive context has gone through a series of alterations in the last decades of the 20th century. Among them there is the State reformation, which stimulated privatization programs and layoffs of state companies, with reflections to the society and the workers involved in the process. A comparative study of cases about the psychosocial implications of restructuring and privatization programs for ex-workers of two companies (electrical energy and telecommunications) was done to describe this phenomenon. It's a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research. Information was collected through semi-structured interviews with retired or fired workers. The content of the interviews' had been analyzed. The subjects, even showing comprehension about the conjectural aspects of the privatization process, suffered the consequences of the formal and psychological contract's break established before with the companies. The changes and the detachment implied in intense psychological suffering and changes in personal and professional life of the professionals interviewed.

Cerebrovascular, and Other Health Effects, Due to the Exposure of Ex-Workers to Carbon Disulfide in the Maunfacture of Rayon / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cerebrovascular and other related health effcets, due to the exposure of ex-workers to carbon disulfide in the manufacture of rayon. METHODS: The study subjects comprised of 453 workers from the rayon manufacturing industry (387 males, 66 females). They were examined with a brain MRI and for other risk factors related to their occupation, such as age, work department, work duration, duration of work cessation, and blood pressure. Laboratory tests were also performed such as blood sugar, hemoglobin, cholesterol, etc. The cumulative exposure levels were calculated as the mean exposure level, per work department, multiplied by the total work duration in months. RESULTS: 75.1% of the subjects were between the ages of 40 and 59 years. 76.0% of the subjects had worked in high exposure departments (e.g., department of spinning and refining etc). 52.5% of the subjects had worked for more than 10 years, and 63.3% of the subjects had ginven up the work (exposure) more than 10 years earlier. The brain MRI findings were normal, a single lacunar infarct, multiple lacunar infarcts (mostly, on subcortex and white matter), and a hemorrhage in 52.5, 8.6, 36.2 and 2.7% respectively. Multiple lacunar infarcts were not related to the cumulative exposure level but in the female workers only, were significantly related to the increasing level of work duration (p<0.05), and in the male workers only, were related to the increased duration of work cessation and age (p<0.01). Abnormal rates of laboratory tests were higher in the multiple lacunar infarcts subjects with hypertension compared to theose with normal brain MRI findings (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The multiple lacunar infarcts of the brain seemed not to be related to the cumulative exposure level but to the low exposure departments, duration of work, duration of work cessation, age and hypertension. This was conducted as a health evaluation on workers from the rayon manufacturing industry who had terminated their exposure to carbon disulfide many years earlier.

Health Evaluation of ex-workers occupationally exposed to Carbon disulfide: Subjective Symptoms and Related Factors according to compensation for CS2 poisoning / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the chronological subjective symptoms and related factors in ex-workers who were occupationally exposed to Carbon disulfide. METHODS: One hundred and seventy-seven subjects (147 males and 30 females) were randomly selected among ex-workers and interviewed by well trained doctors, who filled out a structured questionnaire developed by authors on the subjective symptoms. The questionnaire was composed of symptoms in the head and neck, and those of the neuro-psychological, respiratory, endocrine, musculoskeletal, and reproductive systems. Other factors such as general and occupational characteristics including work department, work duration, duration since cessation of exposure, and compensation for occupational disease were also investigated. RESULTS: The mean subject age was 55.4 years. The mean cumulative exposure index (CEI) was 38.96 +/- 31.18. CEI was significantly higher in the compensated group (47.61 +/- 32.51) than in the non-compensated group (26.81 +/- 24.75)(p=0.000). Symptom complaints were significantly higher in the compensated group in all organ systems, and their incidence increased gradually until 10 years after cessation of work, and then decreased. The mean duration for cessation of exposure at the time of compensation was 10.97 years. The significantly different factors between the compensated group and the non-compensated group were total cumulative exposure index and the time interval between the cessation of work and the time of compensation. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that total cumulative exposure index and the time interval between the cessation of work and the time of compensation may be important factors affecting the compensation for occupational disease. Therefore, further studies will be necessary.