Services
Outputs: Publications
Selected Publications
Schools
Acute illnesses associated with pesticide exposure at schools
JAMA 2005 Jul; 294(4):455-465.
Pesticides continue to be used on school property, and some schools are at risk of pesticide drift from neighboring farms, which leads to exposure among students and school employees. Among 406 cases with detailed information on the source of pesticide exposure, 281 (69%) were associated with pesticides used at schools and 125 (31%) were associated with pesticide drift exposure from farmland. Pesticide exposure at schools produces acute illnesses among school employees and students.
Health Hazard Evaluation Report: Taft Elementary School , Santa Ana , California
HETA-2005-0112-2980, 1-25. [2005]
Measurements of indoor environmental quality were made including temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide; and a moisture meter was used to detect moisture in walls and ceilings or wherever evidence of water staining was visible in the buildings. Visual inspections were made on each of the five 30-ton multizone heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units and on 6 of the 12 Trane air handling units (AHUs). To investigate the nature of fine black particulates on filters installed downstream of the central AHUs, samples of air filters were collected and evaluated using scanning electron microscopy.
Disability management practices in education, hotel / motel , and health care workplaces.
Am J Ind Med 47(3):217-226. [2005]
The high costs and the impact of work disability have become a growing concern for workplaces. As a result, workplace disability management approaches have been developed to lower disability costs, protect the employability of workers, and promote early return to work. A stratified random sample of 455 employers in education (n = 157), hotel/motel (n = 110), and health care (n = 188) sectors who completed a mailed Organizational Policies and Practices (OPP) questionnaire is reported.
Building-related Respiratory Symptoms Can Be Predicted with Semi-quantitative Indices of Exposure to Dampness and Mold
Indoor Air ; 15: 425-433 (2004)
This article documented that a standardized semi-quantitative environmental assessment for signs of dampness and mold was associated with reported work-related symptoms among staff of a large college campus. The article was one of three papers published in the Indoor Air journal from 2002 to 2004, to receive the Best Paper Award in 2005. The jury comprised the members of the Editorial Board.
Fire Fighters, Police and Corrections
Blood-borne Pathogens among Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians
Prehosp Emerg Care 9(2):236-247 [2005]
Firefighters and emergency medical services ( EMS ) personnel have the potential for occupational exposures to blood, which increases their risk for occupational blood-borne infection. From limited available data, the expected number of annual occupational hepatitis C virus seroconversions was estimated to be between 5.8 and 118.9 per 100,000 employee-years for EMT -paramedics, between 3.4 and 33.7 per 100,000 for firefighter-EMTs, and up to 3.6 per 100,000 for firefighters (non- EMT ). Despite the limitations of available studies, it appears that firefighters and EMS personnel do not have an elevated seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus compared with the general population.
Health hazard evaluation report: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Altoona , Pennsylvania
HETA-2000-0191-2960
2005 May; :1-61
Over the course of more than 2 years, NIOSH measured lead and noise exposure during training and qualification rounds at the facility and noise and found excessive levels of both. An inadequate ventilation system and certain design characteristics of the range were found to be contributing factors to the lead exposure. The facility has taken several steps to mitigate these hazards, including implementing of many of the recommendations proposed by the NIOSH investigators.
Rand/NIOSH Emergency Response Personal Protection Series
Many emergency response workers do not believe that they are adequately prepared to respond to a major disaster such as the World Trade Center attack or the anthrax scare, according to three reports of worker input released by RAND and NIOSH. The first two reports show a need for research, training and other strategic approaches to help protect emergency responders in terrorist attacks. The third report recommends that better planning, training, coordination and management procedures are needed to protect emergency responders at the scene of terrorist attacks and disasters.
Review of Literature Related to Exposures and Health Effects at Structural Collapse Events
External Link: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR309/
In an effort to help develop federal guidelines for personal protective equipment used by emergency responders, this report summarizes data on injuries among emergency responders available from incidents of structural collapse (including the World Trade Center in 2001 and Oklahoma City's Murrah Building in 1995), reviews the possible health effects of substances likely to be found in pulverized building materials, and describes the possible health effects of several combustion by-products. For each substance analyzed, the report details the substance's identity, properties, and uses; possible routes of exposure; evidence for health effects from human studies; occupational exposure limits; and carcinogenicity status.
Emergency Responder Injuries and Fatalities: An Analysis of Surveillance Data
External Link: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR100/
NIOSH asked RAND to review available databases that provide disease, injury, and fatality data pertinent to emergency response functions and the role of personal protective technology. This report collects and synthesizes available data on casualties experienced by the emergency responder population for the purpose of estimating the frequency, causes, and characterization of those casualties. The authors examined data separately for firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). They also broke down the data by nature of injury, incidence of injury, activity in which the responder was engaged when injured, and seriousness of injury. The greatest amount of data exist for the firefighter community; a lesser amount for police officers. Data for EMTs are still scarce, but this situation is improving. The available data can provide a route for identifying combinations of kinds and causes of injury, body parts involved, and types of responder activity where injury reduction efforts might be most effectively applied.
Workplace Solutions: Preventing Deaths and Injuries to Fire Fighters During Live-Fire Training in Acquired Structures
DHHS (NIOSH) Pub. No. 2005-102
Live-fire training exercises are a crucial element in the structural fire fighting curriculum. Live-fire training is often conducted in burn buildings designed and approved for such training. Unlike burn buildings, acquired structures are obtained from a private property owner and are not designed or intended for live-fire applications.
Tuberculosis Transmission in Multiple Correctional Facilities --- Kansas, 2002--2003
MMWR, August 20, 2004 / 53(32);734-738
Tuberculosis is a substantial health concern in correctional facilities; inmates and employees are at high risk, and TB outbreaks can lead to transmission in surrounding communities. The Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis recommends that all correctional facilities have a written TB infection-control plan.
Youth Workers
NIOSH Alert: Preventing Deaths, Injuries and Illnesses of Young Workers
DHHS (NIOSH) Pub No. 2003-128
An average of 67 workers under age 18 died from work-related injuries each year during 1992-2000. In 1998, an estimated 77,000 required treatment in hospital emergency rooms. This Alert summarizes available information about work-related injuries among young workers, identifies work that is especially hazardous, and offers recommendations for prevention.
Working Together for Safety - A State Team Approach to Preventing Occupational Injuries in Young People
DHHS (NIOSH) Pub No. 2005-134
This document contains two case studies that demonstrate the value of the State team approach, and also describes the experiences and activities of the State teams in the Northeast; the products developed by the teams, and key resources for other States interested in creating their own State teams.
Drycleaners
Mortality in dry-cleaning workers: an update
Am J Ind Med 2001 Feb; 39(2):121-132
A cohort of 1,708 dry-cleaning workers, identified from union records, was exposed to perchloroethylene, a known animal carcinogen and probable human carcinogen, for at least one year before 1960. Many workers also had exposure to Stoddard solvent, a petroleum-based dry-cleaning solvent. The update study confirmed other findings of excess cancer mortality among drycleaners.
How to assess possible health effects of solvent exposure: The Perchloroethylene Pilot Project I
Med Lav 93(5):403 [2002]
More than 90% of an estimated 50,000 U.S. drycleaner shops currently use perchloroethylene (PCE) as their primary dry cleaning solvent. This pilot project was designed to test the feasibility of using biological markers in a full-scale study of drycleaner workers. The experimental design, review of epidemiologic studies, and sample collection success rates are presented. Eighteen women working in dry cleaning were compared with 20 women working in industrial laundries, matched by age, race, and smoking status. More than thirty biomarkers of exposure, effect, and susceptibility were analyzed.
Potential occupational risks for neurodegenerative diseases
Am J Ind Med 48(1):63-77 [2005]
Associations between occupations and neurodegenerative diseases may be discernable in death certificate data. Hypotheses generated from a 1982 to 1991 study were tested in data from 22 states for the years 1992-1998. Specific occupations and exposures to pesticides, solvents, oxidative stressors, magnetic fields, and welding fumes were evaluated. About one third (26/87) of the occupations hypothesized with neurodegenerative associations had statistically significant elevated mortality odds ratios (MOR) for presenile dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, or motor neuron disease. Teachers had significantly elevated MOR for all four diseases, and hairdressers for three of the four.
Public Workers
Health hazard evaluation report: Nye County Justice Court Building , Pahrump , Nevada
HETA-2003-0368-2961, NIOSH 2005 Mar; :1-17
In response to a request from employees at the Nye County Justice Court Building (NCJCB) in Pahrump , Nevada , NIOSH investigators conducted telephone interviews with requesters, building health and safety personnel, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors, NCJCB legal counsel, and consultants who performed sampling and remediation at the NCJCB. We also reviewed OSHA reports, data from air and surface samples, and reports of past building remediation activities. We found that the employees' health concerns and building odors could be explained by the presence of hydrogen sulfide from sewer gases in the NCJCB. It also appears that the NCJCB had a moisture problem caused by failures of several building-related components.
Inadvertent Laboratory Exposure to Bacillus anthracis-California, 2004
MMWR April 1, 2005 / 54(12); 301-304
On June 9, 2004 , the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) was notified of possible inadvertent exposure to Bacillus anthracis spores at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), where workers were evaluating the immune response of mice to B. anthracis . This report summarizes the subsequent investigation by CDHS and CDC, including assessment of exposures, administration of postexposure chemoprophylaxis, and serologic testing of potentially exposed workers.
Recommendations for Protecting Laboratory, Field, and Clinical Workers from West Nile Virus Exposure
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2006-115
This document answers questions about West Nile virus that are relevant to laboratory, field and clinical workers. Recommendations are also included for preventing exposure of these workers to West Nile virus.
Other Workers
Evaluation of a safety training program in three food service companies
J Saf Res 34(5):547-558 [2003]
A new safety training curriculum was delivered to workers in a stratified random sample of food service facilities across three companies. A similar group of facilities received usual training. We collected post-test measures of demographic variables, safety knowledge, perceptions of transfer of training climate, and workers' compensation claim data for one year after the initial training activities. Knowledge test scores were apparently higher in the new-training units than in the usual-training units. Some demographic variables were inconsistently associated with these differences. Evidence for reduction of the injury rate associated with the new training was observed from two companies but only approached significance for one company. A second company revealed a similar but non-significant trend.
Pesticide-related illness and injury surveillance: a how-to guide for state-based programs
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2006-102
This manual provides information on how to develop and maintain surveillance programs for acute and subacute health effects from pesticide exposure. The primary target audience is State health departments with planned or established pesticide poisoning surveillance programs. Other target audiences include agencies (e.g. local agencies, other state and federal government agencies, and international agencies), and members of the public interested in pesticide poisoning.
Respiratory morbidity in office workers in a water-damaged building
Environmental Health Perspectives 113:485-490 (2005)
Workers who are employed in water damaged buildings may experience adverse respiratory responses. This report provides the results of a respiratory disease evaluation among workers in a large 20 story office building that had previous water intrusion. The investigation documents respiratory illness, the adverse effects on quality of life, and the resulting absenteeism that collectively added personal, social, and economic burdens on many employees and their employers. The report provides strong evidence that damp buildings are associated with developing asthma.
Ototoxic occupational exposures for a stock car racing team: II. Chemical surveys
J Occup Environ Hyg 2005 Aug; 2(8):406-413 [2005]
NIOSH surveyed noise exposure for a professional stock car team at their race shop and during two races at one racetrack. At the team's shop, area sound pressure levels (SPLs) were measured for various work tasks. Equivalent levels (Leqs) ranged from 58 to 104 decibels, A-weighted (dBA). The NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 85 dBA for a 3-dB exchange rate Leq was exceeded for five of the measured jobs. During the races, SPLs averaged above 100 dBA in the pit area where cars undergo adjustments/refueling, both before and during the race. Peak levels reached 140 dB SPL.
Ototoxic occupational exposures for a stock car racing team: I. noise surveys
J Occup Environ Hyg 2005 Aug; 2(8):383-390 [2005]
NIOSH conducted a series of surveys to evaluate occupational exposure to noise and potentially ototoxic chemical agents among members of a professional stock car racing team. Exposure assessments included site visits to the team's race shop and a worst-case scenario racetrack. During site visits to the race team's shop, area samples were collected to measure exposures to potentially ototoxic chemicals, including, organic compounds, metals, and carbon monoxide (CO). Exposures to organic compounds and lead were either nondetectable or too low to quantify. Twenty-five percent of the CO time-weighted average concentrations exceeded the OSHA PEL, NIOSH REL, and ACGIH TLV after being adjusted for a 10-hour workday. Peak CO measurements exceeded the NIOSH recommended ceiling limit of 200 ppm. Based on these data, exposures to potentially ototoxic chemicals are probably not high enough to produce an adverse effect greater than that produced by the high sound pressure levels alone.
Cleaning products and work-related asthma
J Occup Environ Med 45(5):556-563 [2003]
To describe the characteristics of individuals with work-related asthma associated with exposure to cleaning products , data from the California-, Massachusetts-, Michigan-, and New Jersey state-based surveillance systems of work-related asthma were used to identify cases of asthma associated with exposure to cleaning products at work. From 1993 to 1997, 236 (12%) of the 1915 confirmed cases of work-related asthma identified by the four states were associated with exposure to cleaning products . Eighty percent of the reports were of new-onset asthma and 20% were work-aggravated asthma.
HIV transmission in the adult film industry - Los Angeles , California
MMWR 2005 Sep; 54(37):923-926.
In April 2004, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS) received reports of work-related exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the heterosexual segment of the adult film industry in California . This report summarizes an investigation by LACDHS into four work-related HIV-transmission cases among adult film industry workers. The investigation was initiated April 20, 2004 , and joined by the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health on April 21, 2004 , and by CDC on May 18, 2004 . This investigation identified important and remediable gaps in the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in the adult film industry.
Fatal Injuries Among Volunteer Workers -- United States, 1993-2002
MMWR, August 5, 2005 , 54(30); 744-747
During 1993-2002, three occupations accounted for approximately half of the 501 fatal injuries to volunteers: firefighters, 185 deaths; non-construction laborers, 35; and pilots/navigators, 24. The single most common volunteer activity at the time of death was firefighting, for which 76 deaths (15%) were recorded. Driving a motor vehicle (e.g. automobile, truck, or farm vehicle) was recorded in 100 (21%) of the fatalities. Under the system used by BLS to classify industry sectors, 240 (48%) deaths related to volunteer work occurred in public administration (including firefighting), 154 (31%) in services, and 23 (5%) in agricultural forestry and fishing. To reduce these fatalities, organizations that rely on volunteers need to provide adequate training (e.g., defensive driving and recognition of evacuation signals) on the basis of well-communicated and enforced safety and health policies.
Fatal and Nonfatal Occupational Injuries Involving Wood Chippers - United States, 1992-2002 MMWR, December 10, 2004 / 53(48); 1130-1131
Wood chippers shred branches and tree trimmings into mulch. Branches are fed into a chute, in which rotating blades macerate the wood. Mobile chippers pose potential dangers to operators, who can become caught in the feed mechanism and pulled into the rotating chipper knives or struck by the hood of the machine while it is being opened or closed with the knives still rotating.
Roadway Crashes: Older Drivers in the Workplace Crash Prevention for Employers and Workers
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005-159
Roadway crashes are the leading cause of occupational fatalities for older workers in the U.S. Between 1992 and 2002, nearly 3,200 workers aged 55 years and older died in motor vehicle crashes on public highways, accounting for 22% of all occupational fatalities among this worker group. Other leading fatal events among older workers were falls (14%), non-highway motor vehicle crashes (those that occurred or originated entirely off the highway or on industrial or commercial premises) (12%), and homicide (11%).
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