Organic solvents as chemical risk factors of the work environment in different branches of industry and possible impact of solvents on workers' health: Oganiskie škīdinātāji kā darba vides ķīmiskā riska faktori dažādās ražošanas nozares un to iespējamā ietekme uz nodarbināto veselību

Marite Ǎrija Baķe, Maija Eglite, Žanna Martinsone, Inita Buiķe, Anita Piķe, Pavels Sudmalis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
133 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate organic solvents as chemical risk factors of the work environment in different branches of the industry in Latvia during 1998-2006 and to evaluate the possible impact of solvents to worker health according to the exposure index. The work conditions were studied in 116 enterprises of different branches of industries in Latvia. The analysis of 1790 measurements showed that organic solvents in the work environment have different degrees of exposure probability risk on worker health. The exposure levels in workplaces differ. More than half of surveyed workplaces (56.7%) had a low organic solvent exposure probability level, in 25.2% workplaces it was medium, and in 18.1% workplaces high. The most widely used organic solvents were aromatic hydrocarbons, which was recorded in 35% of the measurements made during assessment of aromatic hydrocarbon group organic solvent exposure in the work environment. In most workplaces several solvents were present simultaneously. Since solvents have a one-way effect on the human body, the actual exposure risk level is higher than shown when evaluating the exposure index of a single solvent only.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-32
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Section B: Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences
Volume64
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2010

Keywords*

  • chemicals of different classes
  • exposure indexes
  • organic solvents
  • risk factors of work environment

Field of Science*

  • 1.4 Chemical sciences
  • 3.3 Health sciences

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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