Follow-up assessment of "Technical specifications for occupational health surveillance" / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the possession of occupational health examination qualification among occupational health examination institutions in Zhejiang province, China and the application of GBZ188-2007 "Technical specifications for occupational health surveillance" among related government departments, and to provide a basis for revising and improving the specifications.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A questionnaire survey was carried out among occupational health inspection agencies, health supervision authorities, and enterprises of different sizes, which possessed provincial-level occupation health inspection qualifications and had engaged in occupational health examination for more than 2 years. The investigation included awareness, using frequency, and revision suggestion about GBZ 188-2007 "Technical specifications for occupational health surveillance".</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Medical institutions and centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs)showed a high rate of occupational health examination qualification possession in chemical substances, dust, noise, and high temperature and a low rate of qualification possession in physical factors, biological factors, special operations, and other aspects. These institutions showed high awareness of chemical substances, dust, and physical factors in GBZ 188-2007 "Technical specifications for occupational health surveillance" and low awareness of other factors. Medical institutions, CDCs, and provincial and municipal health supervision authorities used these specifications more frequently than county-level authorities and enterprises. More than 80% investigated units believed that the following issues required further optimization: occupational health care, emergency health examination regulations, classification of occupational health inspection reports, and special operation monitoring. It is consistently stressed that for exposure to chemical compounds that may bring harm to various organs of the body, explicit specifications should be made concerning health examination before, during, and after service. Conflicting opinions existed concerning the following issues: satisfaction with GBZ 188-2007 specifications, whether to add contents for care of personnel exposed to biological factors (such as forest encephalitis), the threshold of noise intensity to perform health care, and whether to add health care for exposure to compounds such as benzene and phenols.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The occupational health inspection agencies in Zhejiang province have a high rate of qualification possession in health examination concerning chemicals, dust, noise, and high temperature. The medical institutions, CDCs, and health supervision departments above the county level often use the specifications at work. It is consistently recommended that more kinds of harmful substances should be included, and related specifications and issues should be further optimized, in order to better meet the requirement of occupational health care in the new era.</p>

Study of N-methylcarbamoylated hemoglobin in blood of being an exposure biomarker of N, N-dimethylformamide / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of blood N-methylcarbamoylated haemoglobin (NMHb) as a biomarker of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) exposure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two DMF processing workers in a synthetic leather factory were included in the DMF exposure group, and 12 workers in a food factory without exposure to DMF were included in the control group. Long-time individual sampling in workplace was performed among 45 workers in the exposure group, accompanied by a questionnaire survey. Blood and urine were collected for the determination of urinary N-methylformamide (NMF), urinary creatinine, and blood NMHb. Air DMF and urinary NMF were determined by gas chromatography. NMHb in blood was degraded to 3-methyl-5-isopropylhydantoin by Edman degradation before it could be determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Air DMF in workplace and NMF in post-shift urine were both correlated with NMHb in blood, and the respective regression equations were LgNMHb (nmol/g globin) = 0.32×LgDMF (mg/m(3))+1.8 (r = 0.60, P < 0.005), and LgNMHb (nmol/g globin) = 0.47×LgNMF (mg/g Cr) + 1.4 (r = 0.56, P < 0.005).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NMHb can be used as a biomarker of long-term exposure to DMF.</p>