Display options
Cite
Cappelletti R, Ceppi M, Claudatus J, et al. Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2016;11:7doi: 10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8.
Cappelletti, R., Ceppi, M., Claudatus, J., & Gennaro, V. (2016). Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy. Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8
Cappelletti, Roberto, et al. "Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy." Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) vol. 11 (2016): 7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8
Cappelletti R, Ceppi M, Claudatus J, Gennaro V. Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2016 Feb 20;11:7. doi: 10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8. eCollection 2016. PMID: 26900394; PMCID: PMC4761198.
Copy Download .nbib Format: NLM
Share it on

J Occup Med Toxicol. 2016 Feb 20;11:7. doi: 10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8. eCollection 2016.

Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy.

Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England)

Roberto Cappelletti, Marcello Ceppi, Justina Claudatus, Valerio Gennaro

Affiliations

  1. International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE Italy), via della Fioraia 17/19, 52100 Arezzo, Italy.
  2. Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria "San Martino" Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro (IST), largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
  3. International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE Italy), via della Fioraia 17/19, 52100 Arezzo, Italy ; Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria "San Martino" Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro (IST), largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy.

PMID: 26900394 PMCID: PMC4761198 DOI: 10.1186/s12995-016-0095-8

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine if the workers of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which recycles scrap, had higher mortality and morbidity due to possible exposure to pollutants at work. EAFs do not run on coke ovens. In EAFs 40 % of the particulate matter (PM) is made up of PM 2.5. The foundry dust contained iron, aluminum, zinc, manganese, lead, chromium, nickel, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins.

METHODS: Mortality study: a cohort of 331 exposed workers (6731 person-years) was studied from 19/03/1979 to 31/12/2009 (mean follow up 20.7 years). The group of exposed workers was compared to the general population and to a small control group of 32 workers from the same company. Morbidity study: rates of exemption from health fee for the seven major diseases of 235 exposed workers were compared to the rates of exemption in the Province of Trento.

RESULTS: Mortality study: an excess mortality was found in the exposed workers as compared to the general population (SMR 1.13; 95 % CI: 0.76-1.62; 29 deaths) and to the internal group (RR 2.34; 95 % CI: 0.39-95.7). The mortality rate was increased for all tumours (SMR 1.36; 95 % CI: 0.75-2.29; 14 cases), for lung cancer (SMR 3.35; 95 % CI 1.45-6.60; 8 cases), for ischemic heart disease (SMR 1.27; 95 % CI: 0.35-3.26; 4 cases), for chronic liver disease (SMR 1.16; 95 % CI: 0.14-4.20; 2 cases) and for injury and poisoning (SMR 1.32; 95 % CI: 0.48-2.88; 6 cases). Morbidity study: there was a statistically significant increase of diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in exposed workers.

CONCLUSIONS: With the limitations of this relatively small cohort, we found a statistically significant increase of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and deaths due to lung cancer in exposed workers. These findings cannot be explained by PAH exposure alone; metal particulates are the most important pollutants in the working area of EAFs. A reliable method for measuring metal PM in tissues is urgently needed for exposure assessment. This study underlines the necessity to maximize the standards of security toward foundry dusts/diffuse emission. Further studies on EAF's are needed to confirm our findings and to increase statistical power.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Diabetes; Diffuse emission; Electric arc furnace (EAF); Foundry dust; Hypertension; Injury; Lung cancer; Rheumatoid arthritis; Steel workers

References

  1. Epidemiol Prev. 2012 Nov-Dec;36(6):305-20 - PubMed
  2. J Hazard Mater. 2008 Oct 1;158(1):124-30 - PubMed
  3. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2012 Feb;11(1):26-39 - PubMed
  4. EXS. 2012;101:133-64 - PubMed
  5. Epidemiol Prev. 2003 Jul-Aug;27(4):221-5 - PubMed
  6. Hum Exp Toxicol. 2007 May;26(5):447-52 - PubMed
  7. Chemosphere. 2006 Jul;64(4):666-71 - PubMed
  8. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Aug;113(8):1052-5 - PubMed
  9. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Jul;119(7):964-9 - PubMed
  10. J Occup Med. 1990 Jun;32(6):529-40 - PubMed
  11. Epidemiol Prev. 2005 Sep-Dec;29(5-6 Suppl):42-4 - PubMed
  12. J Aerosol Med. 2004 Summer;17(2):157-64 - PubMed
  13. Occup Med. 2001 Apr-Jun;16(2):359-66 - PubMed
  14. Occup Environ Med. 2009 Mar;66(3):175-81 - PubMed
  15. Am J Ind Med. 2000 Dec;38(6):644-50 - PubMed
  16. IARC Sci Publ. 1990;(104):363-7 - PubMed
  17. Int J Nanomedicine. 2014 Dec 15;9 Suppl 2:251-60 - PubMed
  18. J Hazard Mater. 2009 Oct 30;170(2-3):699-704 - PubMed
  19. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risk Chem Hum. 1984 Jun;34:101-31 - PubMed
  20. Epidemiol Health. 2012;34:e2012002 - PubMed
  21. G Ital Med Lav Ergon. 2012 Jul-Sep;34(3):236-41 - PubMed
  22. Circulation. 2002 Apr 2;105(13):1534-6 - PubMed
  23. Environ Health Perspect. 1994 Sep;102 Suppl 3:69-79 - PubMed
  24. Epidemiol Prev. 2005 Sep-Dec;29(5-6 Suppl):77-86 - PubMed
  25. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Nov;114(11):1677-83 - PubMed
  26. Toxicol Pathol. 2011 Feb;39(2):301-24 - PubMed
  27. Islets. 2009 Nov-Dec;1(3):169-76 - PubMed
  28. Sci Total Environ. 2011 Mar 15;409(8):1444-52 - PubMed
  29. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2012 Feb;11(1):65-80 - PubMed
  30. J Occup Med. 1971 Feb;13(2):53-68 - PubMed
  31. Hum Exp Toxicol. 2006 Oct;25(10):559-79 - PubMed
  32. Occup Environ Med. 1994 May;51(5):316-22 - PubMed
  33. Environ Int. 2011 Aug;37(6):1083-97 - PubMed
  34. Chemosphere. 2014 Sep;110:53-61 - PubMed
  35. Am J Ind Med. 2005 Sep;48(3):194-204 - PubMed
  36. Med Lav. 2005 Sep-Oct;96(5):390-402 - PubMed
  37. Environ Health. 2008 Jul 09;7:36 - PubMed
  38. Br J Ind Med. 1990 Aug;47(8):537-43 - PubMed
  39. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum Suppl. 1987;7:1-440 - PubMed
  40. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2012;228(4):267-88 - PubMed
  41. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Jan;116(1):13-20 - PubMed
  42. Occup Environ Med. 1996 May;53(5):343-50 - PubMed
  43. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1976;2 Suppl 1:73-89 - PubMed
  44. Epidemiol Prev. 2009 Jul-Oct;33(4-5 Suppl 2):49-56 - PubMed
  45. Am J Ind Med. 1990;17(4):483-91 - PubMed
  46. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2007 Mar;292(3):L664-70 - PubMed
  47. Ann Occup Environ Med. 2013 May 21;25(1):4 - PubMed
  48. Neurotoxicology. 2007 Mar;28(2):336-44 - PubMed
  49. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1984 Feb;10(1):7-16 - PubMed
  50. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 Mar;117(3):361-6 - PubMed
  51. Sci Total Environ. 2010 Sep 15;408(20):4446-50 - PubMed
  52. Environ Health. 2011 Apr 05;10 Suppl 1:S3 - PubMed
  53. Cad Saude Publica. 2013 Aug;29(8):1565-71 - PubMed
  54. Toxicology. 2009 Jul 28;262(1):50-6 - PubMed
  55. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2006 Jul-Sep;12 (3):193-202 - PubMed
  56. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2006 Oct;87(4):471-9 - PubMed
  57. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2005 Oct-Dec;11(4):356-9 - PubMed
  58. Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:279371 - PubMed
  59. Occup Med (Lond). 1999 May;49(4):225-9 - PubMed
  60. Environ Res. 2011 Jul;111(5):650-5 - PubMed
  61. Lancet Oncol. 2013 Aug;14(9):813-22 - PubMed
  62. BMC Public Health. 2008 Jan 22;8:21 - PubMed
  63. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):779-89 - PubMed
  64. J Occup Environ Med. 1998 Dec;40(12):1120-6 - PubMed
  65. Neurotoxicology. 2007 Mar;28(2):328-35 - PubMed
  66. J Occup Med. 1970 May;12(5):151-7 - PubMed

Publication Types