Inorganic copper is used as a broad-spectrum fungicide and bacteriocide on a variety of agricultural crops. After application, the copper residue typically accumulates in the upper 15 cm of soil. Data from the California Pesticide Use Reports were used to estimate the augmentation of copper in the soil that resulted from pesticide applications for the six years from 1993 to 1998 on 12 crops tha...

BACKGROUND In this study, the characteristics of menstrual cycle in shift workers employed in the pharmaceutical industry are investigated. METHOD This study was conducted in a pharmaceutical industrial complex in Tehran in 2012. 406 female workers in packaging units were studied on the menstrual cycle characteristics. The studied workers were divided into two groups of shift workers and non-...

Airborne fungal pathogens such as Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Trichophyton, and Alternaria may cause health problems. In this research, the fungal flora at different bakeries and their potential allergenic effects on the workers were investigated. We investigated 148 workers at 17 industrial type bakeries and 62 workers at 17 home type bakeries in Afyon. Our study was performed in t...

OBJECTIVES A cross sectional prospective study was carried out among iron foundry workers (exposed) and soft drink bottling and supply company workers (unexposed) to assess their occupational exposure to ambient respiratory dust in their work environment and its effect on their lung function profile. PARTICIPANTS Lung function was measured in 81 exposed and 113 unexposed workers. Personal res...

Toluene is an important toxic volatile agent found in many modern industrial processes. Toluene exposure is of particular concern because of the ongoing exposure of thousands of workers in industrial plants and recent research has indicated that toluene/exposure can result in chronic toxicity. The monitoring and control of toluene exposure among at-risk workers is necessary. Urine hippuric acid...

We outline methods for integrating epidemiologic and industrial hygiene data systems for the purpose of exposure estimation, exposure surveillance, worker notification, and occupational medicine practice. We present examples of these methods from our work at the Rocky Flats Plant--a former nuclear weapons facility that fabricated plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons and is now being decontami...

BACKGROUND Workers in pesticide manufacturing industries are constantly exposed to pesticides. Genetic biomonitoring provides an early identification of potential cancer and genetic diseases in exposed populations. The objectives of this biomonitoring study were to assess DNA damage through comet assay in blood samples collected from industry workers and compare these results with those of clas...

BACKGROUND Glues are strong, liquid adhesive derived from animal tissues. It has been shown that glue sniffing is associated with demyelinating polyneuropathy. The low molecular weight agents which cause occupational lung disease have generally included the isocyanates exposure to which could result in asthma among workers. Toluene is also used widely in glue and adhesive industry and household...