Semi-quantitative health risk assessment of heavy metal dust exposure among nail technicians using the SQRA technique and Monte Carlo simulation.

Nail technology, including the application of artificial nails and nail care, is a developing sector of the global beauty industry. Nail technicians are exposed to a variety of chemical substances through inhalation, as they spend extended periods of time in close proximity to these materials. This study aimed to evaluate the semi-quantitative health risk of dust-containing heavy metals among nail technicians. This analytical descriptive study employed the risk assessment method provided by the Singapore Occupational Health Department to evaluate the health hazards of lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and manganese. Dust samples from nail filing were collected from the respiratory zone of 20 nail technicians following the NIOSH 7300 method. The samples were analyzed using ICP-OES instrumentation. Monte Carlo simulation was utilized to characterize the risk and its uncertainties. Manganese and cadmium had the highest and lowest mean concentrations, respectively. The risk scores of the metals ranked from highest to lowest were as follows: Ni>Cr>Cd>Mn>Pb. All five metals had risk rankings below 2.8, signifying a minimal risk level. Sensitivity analysis using Spearman's correlation coefficient demonstrated a positive relationship between concentration, daily hours of exposure, and the number of workdays per week with the risk score (RR) and exposure level (ER). Conversely, the variable of weekly working hours (W) showed a negative correlation with these parameters. Despite the low-risk level of the examined metals, continuous exposure and potential long-term effects on nail technicians warrant preventive measures. Recommendations include implementing local exhaust ventilation systems, using table fans, establishing work-rest cycles, wearing N95 dust masks, and using reputable and high-quality nail polishes.

Occupational Health Risk Assessment for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Kanpur, India.

The treatment and reuse of wastewater for irrigation can lead to occupational health risks for sewage treatment plant (STP) workers and farmers. Sanitation Safety Planning (SSP) is an approach which can be used to measure and mitigate these risks. This paper explores what impact a novel secondary treatment process, consisting of an integrated permeate channel (IPC) membrane combined with a constructed wetland plus, has on the occupational health risks compared with the existing activated sludge wastewater treatment process and reuse system in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A mixed methodology was used, which included key informant interviews, structured observations, and E. coli analysis. This data was used to undertake semi-quantitative risk assessments following the SSP approach. The novel secondary treatment increased the number of health risks which the STP workers were exposed to, but the severity of the risks was lower. This was due to the differences in treatment processes and infrastructures. The number of health risks for the farmers decreased both in number and severity. For their children, the severity of the health impacts decreased. These changes were due to the increase in the microbiological quality of the irrigation water. This study highlights the potential of using a semi-quantitative risk assessment to assess the occupational health impacts of using novel treatment technologies.

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction in Outdoor Pig Farms.

In a previous study, a semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to rank pig holdings in terms of likelihood of introducing African swine fever virus (ASFV) by assessing their compliance with biosecurity and exposure to geographical risk factors. The method was initially developed for confined pig holdings, but given that ASF is endemic in wild boar of several countries, we modified the approach to make it suitable for free-range farms as well. In the current study, a total of 41 outdoor pig farms were assessed in an area where exposure to wild boar was generally high (density from 2.3 to 10.3 wild boar per Km2). As expected, non-compliance with biosecurity measures was frequent in outdoor farms, and the frequency of non-compliance indicated that the absence of adequate separation of pigs from the external environment was the major weakness in the farms assessed. In 46.3% of them, there was no fence or, if present, it was not adequate to avoid contact with wild boar. However, the approach adopted proved to be suitable for identifying intervention priorities to mitigate the risk of ASFV spread in free-range pig herds and for identifying the weaknesses of individual farms, as recommended by EFSA in 2021, which suggests implementing tools to improve biosecurity by favoring higher-risk farms.

Semi-quantitative risk assessment of African swine fever virus introduction in pig farms.

A semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to classify pig farms in terms of the probability of introduction of African swine fever virus (ASFV). Following on-farm data collection via a specific checklist, we applied a modified failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to calculate the risk priority codes (RPC's), indicating increasing risk levels ranging from 1 to 5. The importance of biosecurity measures was attributed by experts. To consider geographic risk factors, we classified pig farms based on local density of farmed pigs, and on the estimated wild boar population density. The combination of RPC's with geographical risk factors resulted into a final ranking of pig farms in terms of the risk of ASFV introduction. Furthermore, the estimation of frequency and levels of non-compliance with biosecurity measures was used to identify weak points in risk prevention at farm level. The outcome of the risk assessment was affected by choices in assigning non-compliance scores and importance to specific components of biosecurity. The method was applied in 60 commercial farms in major pig production areas in Italy. Furthermore, we applied a reduced version of our checklist in 12 non-commercial/small commercial (≤20 pigs) farms in the northern Apennines. In commercial farms, highest RPC's were obtained for biosecurity measures associated with personnel practices and farm buildings/planimetry. Intervention should be addressed to training of personnel on biosecurity and ASF, to avoid contacts with other pig herds, and to improve practices in the entrance into the farm. Sharing trucks with other farms, and loading/unloading of pigs were other weak points. Fencing was classified as insufficient in 70% of the commercial farms. Among these farms, breeding units were characterised by the lowest risk of ASFV introduction (although differences among median ranks were not statistically significant: P-value = 0.07; Kruskal-Wallis test), and increasing herd size was not significantly correlated with a higher risk (Kendall's τ = -0.13; P-value = 0.14). Density of farmed pig was greatest in the main pig production area in northern Italy. Conversely, exposure to wild boars was greatest for non-commercial/small commercial farms on the Apennines, which were also characterised by non-compliance with critical biosecurity measures.

Risk of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) introduction and spread in CCHF-free countries in southern and Western Europe: A semi-quantitative risk assessment.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a severe tick-borne viral zoonotic disease caused by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). The disease is usually asymptomatic in domestic and wild animals, both of which may act as reservoirs of the virus. CCHF is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. During the last decade, the emergence or re-emergence of CCHF was described in several countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, with an increasing risk of extension into new areas. Given the public health importance, this study undertakes a semi-quantitative risk assessment to analyse the likelihood of entry and exposure of CCHFV into 9 CCHF-free countries in Southern and Western Europe. Based on a framework outlining the probability of the virus entry and exposure, the risk estimates were assessed for each individual country. The risk assessment was performed using information from public databases and the available scientific literature. The likelihood of entry was conducted considering 3 main pathways: infected tick vectors, wildlife and livestock. The likelihood of exposure was assessed considering the probability of survival of the infected ticks once introduced in CCHF-free countries (depending on abiotic and biotic factors), and the exposure of resident uninfected susceptible ticks to infected imported wildlife and livestock. The risk estimates (combined CCHFV introduction and exposure) were low for the majority of the countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovenia and Switzerland) and medium for France and Italy, if accounting only for animal health consequences. Considering the public health consequences only, the risks were rated low for all the countries, except for Italy where it was assessed to be medium.

Semi-quantitative risk assessment of the contamination of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in oysters from Jinshan District, Shanghai / 上海预防医学

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus(VP)in oysters in Jinshan District, Shanghai and make assessment on the risks that may cause, providing the basis for prevention and control of foodborne disease. Methods Raw oyster samples with shells were randomly collected from markets, supermarkets and restaurants in Jinshan District from July to October in 2017. The content of VP in oysters was tested in accordance with the national standard methods. The semi-quantitative risk assessment for VP in oysters was made by Risk Ranger combining with the monitoring results of diet and health status of residents in Jinshan District of Shanghai in 2012-2013. Results The overall positive rate of VP in the 40 oyster samples was 80.0%(32/40). The positive rate of VP in oyster samples from farmer's markets was the highest, 85.7%(12/14), followed by those from restaurants and supermarkets. The relative risk for VP in raw oysters was 63. The probability of illness caused by VP in oysters per day per consumer of interest was 6.85×10-4, and the total predicted patients annual incidence rate in this population was 1 247.8/105. Conclusion The contamination of VP in seafood oysters in Jinshan District is serious. Eating raw oysters is at high risk; consumers are advised to reduce or avoid eating raw oysters, and processing food before eating is an effective method to decrease VP infection. Strengthening surveillance and management is imperative in this regard.

[Application of three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in electroplating enterprises].

Objective: To apply the semi-quantitative risk assessment model in the Technical Guidelines for Occupational Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Hazardous Factors in the Workplace to assess the occupational health risk of electroplating enterprises and explore its applicable conditions and characteristics. Methods: Three electroplating enterprises were selected as the research objects. Occupational hygiene survey and hazard factor detection were conducted on the spot. Three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods were used to assess the risk, and the evaluation results were compared. Results: The consistency between the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was strong. The weighted Kappa value was 0.946 and the P value was less than 0.001, but the consistency between the contact ratio method, the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was poor. The weighted Kappa value was 0.345 and 0.391, and the P value was 0.009 and 0.004, respectively. When the contact concentration is less than 50% OELs, the evaluation results of the contact ratio method are lower than those of the exponential method and the comprehensive exponential method. The consistency of the three methods was the highest when the contact concentration (>50%) and (OELs, the results of the contact ratio method are higher than those of the index method and the comprehensive index method. Conclusion: Contact ratio method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment under the condition of incomplete occupational health information and for enterprise managers to identify key control points of health risk through self-assessment; Contact index method is suitable for hazard risk assessment of occupational hazards without sampling test conditions or OELs, and pre-assessment of occupational hazards of construction projects without access to analogical test data. The index method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment with available testing data and complete occupational health information.

Application of three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in electroplating enterprises / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective@#To apply the semi-quantitative risk assessment model in the Technical Guidelines for Occupational Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Hazardous Factors in the Workplace to assess the occupational health risk of electroplating enterprises and explore its applicable conditions and characteristics.@*Methods@#Three electroplating enterprises were selected as the research objects. Occupational hygiene survey and hazard factor detection were conducted on the spot. Three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods were used to assess the risk, and the evaluation results were compared.@*Results@#The consistency between the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was strong. The weighted Kappa value was 0.946 and the P value was less than 0.001, but the consistency between the contact ratio method, the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was poor. The weighted Kappa value was 0.345 and 0.391, and the P value was 0.009 and 0.004, respectively. When the contact concentration is less than 50% OELs, the evaluation results of the contact ratio method are lower than those of the exponential method and the comprehensive exponential method. The consistency of the three methods was the highest when the contact concentration (>50%) and (<OELs). When the contact concentration >OELs, the results of the contact ratio method are higher than those of the index method and the comprehensive index method.@*Conclusion@#Contact ratio method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment under the condition of incomplete occupational health information and for enterprise managers to identify key control points of health risk through self-assessment; Contact index method is suitable for hazard risk assessment of occupational hazards without sampling test conditions or OELs, and pre-assessment of occupational hazards of construction projects without access to analogical test data. The index method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment with available testing data and complete occupational health information.