Climate change and heat stress resilient outdoor workers: findings from systematic literature review.

PURPOSE: Global warming has led to an increase in the number and intensity of extreme heat events, posing a significant threat to the health and safety of workers, especially those working outdoors, as they often have limited access to cooling strategies. The present systematic literature review (a) summarizes the current knowledge on the impacts of climate change on outdoor workers, (b) provides historical background on this issue, (c) explores factors that reduce and increase thermal stress resilience, (d) discusses the heat mitigation strategies, and (e) provides an overview of existing policy and legal frameworks on occupational heat exposure among outdoor workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this systematic review, we searched scientific databases including Scopus (N = 855), Web of Science (N = 828), and PubMed (N = 202). Additionally, we identified relevant studies on climate change and heat-stress control measures through Google Scholar (N = 116) using specific search terms. In total, we monitored 2001 articles pertaining to worker populations (men = 2921; women = 627) in various outdoor climate conditions across 14 countries. After full-text assessment, 55 studies were selected for inclusion, and finally, 29 eligible papers were included for data extraction. RESULTS: Failure to implement effective control strategies for outdoor workers will result in decreased resilience to thermal stress. The findings underscore a lack of awareness regarding certain adaptation strategies and interventions aimed at preventing and enhancing resilience to the impact of climate change on heat stress prevalence among workers in outdoor tropical and subtropical environments. However, attractive alternative solutions from the aspects of economic and ecological sustainability in the overall assessment of heat stress resilience can be referred to acclimatization, shading, optimized clothing properties and planned breaks. CONCLUSION: The integration of climate change adaptation strategies into occupational health programs can enhance occupational heat resilience among outdoor workers. Conducting cost-benefit evaluations of health and safety measures for thermal stress adaptation strategies among outdoor workers is crucial for professionals and policymakers in low- and middle-income tropical and subtropical countries. In this respect, complementary measures targeting hydration, work-rest regimes, ventilated garments, self-pacing, and mechanization can be adopted to protect outdoor workers. Risk management strategies, adaptive measures, heat risk awareness, practical interventions, training programs, and protective policies should be implemented in hot-dry and hot-humid climates to boost the tolerance and resilience of outdoor workers.

Otoprotective Effects of Quercetin Against Oxidative Damage in the Rat's Cochlea Induced by Noise and Silver Nanoparticles.

The aim of this study was to investigate the otoprotective effects of Quercetin (Que) against both noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and the ototoxicity of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) in rats. Forty-two male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups (n = 6): control, SNPs, Que (100 mg/kg) plus SNPs (100 mg/kg), noise (104 dB), Que plus noise, noise plus SNPs, and noise plus Que plus SNPs. In the weight change results, there was no significant difference between the groups exposed to noise plus SNPs and SNPs compared to the control group. However, animals had significant changes in DPOAE amplitude at 1 and 3 days post-exposure when compared to baseline. Additionally, the DPOAE value of rats administered with Que plus SNPs was higher than in all other groups. Que also decreased the levels of TACT, MDA, IL-6, TNF-α, and NOX3 in the groups exposed to noise and SNPs and increased the SOD level and expression of myosin heavy chain VII (MYH7) and ß-tubulin III (TUBB3) proteins. Furthermore, Que decreased structural changes in the animals' cochlea. Our findings indicate that pretreatment with Que efficiently counteracted the adverse effects of noise and SNPs on inner hair cell, outer hair cell, and nerve cells, which are responsible for high-frequency perception.