Τίτλος:
Occupational exposure to inhalable wood dust in the member states of the
European Union
Γλώσσες Τεκμηρίου:
Αγγλικά
Περίληψη:
The aim of this study was to estimate occupational exposure to inhalable
wood dust by country, industry, the level of exposure and type of wood
dust in 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25) for the purposes
of hazard control, exposure surveillance and assessment of health risks.
National labour force statistics, a country questionnaire (in 15 member
states, EU-15), a company survey (in Finland, France, Germany and
Spain), exposure measurements (from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and expert judgements were used
to generate preliminary estimates of exposure to different types of wood
dust. The estimates were generated according to industrial class (six
wood industries, four other sectors) and level of exposure (five
classes). These estimates were reviewed and finalized by national
experts from 15 member states. Crude estimates were generated also for
10 new member states (EU-10). The basic data and final estimates were
included in the WOODEX database. In 2000-2003, about 3.6 million workers
(2.0% of the employed EU-25 population) were occupationally exposed to
inhalable wood dust. Of those, construction employed 1.2 million exposed
workers (33%), mostly construction carpenters. The numbers of exposed
workers were 700000 (20%) in the furniture industry, 300000 (9%) in
the manufacture of builders’ carpentry, 200000 (5%) in
sawmilling,150000 (4%) in forestry and < 100000 in other wood
industries. In addition, there were 700000 exposed workers (20%) in
miscellaneous industries employing carpenters, joiners and other
woodworkers. The numbers of exposed workers varied by country ranging
from < 3000 in Luxembourg and Malta to 700000 in Germany. The highest
exposure levels were estimated to occur in the construction sector and
furniture industry. Due to limited exposure data there was considerable
uncertainty in the estimates concerning construction woodworkers. About
560000 workers (16% of the exposed) may be exposed to a level exceeding
5 mg m(-3). Mixed exposure to more than one species of wood and dust
from wooden boards was very common, but reliable data on exposure to
different species of wood could not be retrieved. This kind of
assessment procedure integrating measurement data, company data,
country-specific data and expert judgement could also serve as one model
for the assessment of other occupational exposures.
Συγγραφείς:
Kauppinen, Timo
Vincent, Raymond
Liukkonen, Tuula
Grzebyk,
Michel
Kauppinen, Antti
Welling, Irma
Arezes, Pedro and
Blacks, Nigel
Bochmann, Frank
Campelo, Filipe
Costa, Manuel
and Elsigan, Gerhard
Goerens, Robert
Kikemenis, Anastasia and
Kromhout, Hans
Miguel, Sergio
Mirabelli, Dario
McEneany,
Roisin
Pesch, Beate
Plato, Nils
Schlunssen, Vivi and
Schulze, Johannes
Sonntag, Roland
Verougstraete, Violaine
De
Vincente, Maria Angeles
Wolf, Joachim
Zimmermann, Marta and
Husgafvel-Pursiainen, Kirsti
Savolainen, Kai
Περιοδικό:
Annals of Occupational Hygiene
Εκδότης:
Oxford University Press
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
European Union; occupational exposure; wood dust
DOI:
10.1093/annhyg/mel013
