background: brucellosis is the most common bacterial zoonosis worldwide. greece has the highest reported incidence among eu countries. however, occupational risk factors have not been well described. objective: to determine the incidence patterns and exposure risk factors of brucellosis in greece. methods: we used national-level surveillance and occupational denominator data to estimate the inc...

INTRODUCTION In the past decade, we studied occupational bioaerosol exposures in various sites of the waste management chain. In this paper we present an overview of exposure levels of inhalable dust, endotoxin, beta(1-->3)-glucan (known or probable inducers of airways inflammation), and extracellular polysaccharide antigens of Aspergillus and Penicillium species (EPS-Pen/Asp; a common and prob...

background: foundry workers are occupationally exposed to hazardous substances such as silica dusts and toxic gases. the aim of this study was to examine the effects of simultaneous exposure to complex mixtures of silica dust, formaldehyde, and triethylamine on lung function parameters. study design: a cross-sectional study. methods: this study was conducted on 55 male workers of core making un...

background: workers exposed to organic solvents are at risk of developing chronic central nervous system disorders. the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the neurobehavioral effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents among pharmaceutical laboratory workers. methods: the study groups consisted of 78 laboratory workers as the exposed group and 98 office workers as une...

high intensity optical radiation can cause damage to the eye and intense radiation in the range of 770-1400 nm can cause thermal retinal damage. in the workplaces where there are high temperature sources, the workers in front of these hot  sources without bright light maybe exposed to the  intense ir radiation, thus regular measurement of these radiations seems crucial. measurement of ir radiat...

Introduction Sulfuric acid was first assessed to be carcinogenic in 1997 in a report of the World Health organization WHO (IARC). Based on this report, the Senate committee dealing with the control of harmful substances in the workplace submitted the first proposal justifying a lower occupational exposure limit [2].This proposal contained a list of many individual studies. In the investigations...

This special issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology is devoted to a discussion of the development and regulation of occupational exposure limits (OELs) in Asia. OELs are the necessary links between the science of risk assessment and the management of risk as a result of occupational exposures. Ideally, OELs are based on the best available and most up-to-date information. The developmen...

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used as an important tool to protect workers from adverse chemical exposures and its detrimental effects on their health. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) can establish and publish OELs based on the Industrial Safety and Health Act in Korea. The first set of OELs was announced by the MOL in 1986. At that time, it was identical to the Threshold Limit Values of ...