International perspective on military exposure data sources, applications, and opportunities for collaboration.

Military personnel may be exposed to a range of hazards. The assessment, documentation and reporting of military exposure information are important steps to guide health protection, services, and research to support actively serving members and veterans. In 2021, a Working Group of researchers from veteran and defense administrations across the Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) was established to examine large military exposure data sources available in each country, their applications, and opportunities to leverage information across administrations and internationally.

Considering Exposure Assessment in Epidemiological Studies of Chronic Health in Military Populations.

Exposure assessment is an important factor in all epidemiological research seeking to identify, evaluate, and control health risks. In the military and veteran context, population health research to explore exposure-response links is complicated by the wide variety of environments and hazards encountered during active service, long latency periods, and a lack of information on exposures in potentially vulnerable subgroups. This paper summarizes some key considerations for exposure assessment in long-term health studies of military populations, including the identification of hazards related to military service, characterization of potentially exposed groups, exposure data collection, and assignment of exposures to estimate health risks.

Cohort study of workers at a New Zealand agrochemical plant to assess the effect of dioxin exposure on mortality.

Objectives: To describe how the exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo--dioxin (TCDD) influenced mortality in a cohort of workers who were exposed more recently, and at lower levels, than other cohorts of trichlorophenol process workers.

Design: A cohort study.

Setting: An agrochemical plant in New Zealand PARTICIPANTS: 1,599 men and women working between 1 January 1969 and 1 November 1988 at a plant producing the herbicide 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) with TCDD as a contaminant.

Does daily exposure to whole-body vibration and mechanical shock relate to the prevalence of low back and neck pain in a rural workforce?

Objectives: To determine whether whole-body vibration (WBV) and mechanical shock exposure from quad bike use are associated with the prevalence of neck and low back pain (LBP) in New Zealand farmers and rural workers.

Methods: Full-day WBV and mechanical shock exposures were gathered from 130 farmers and rural workers. Participants were surveyed for a history of neck or LBP in the past 7 days and in the past 12 months.

Exposure to whole-body vibration and mechanical shock: a field study of quad bike use in agriculture.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and mechanical shock in rural workers who use quad bikes and to explore how personal, physical, and workplace characteristics influence exposure.

Methods: A seat pad mounted triaxial accelerometer and data logger recorded full workday vibration and shock data from 130 New Zealand rural workers. Personal, physical, and workplace characteristics were gathered using a modified version of the Whole Body Vibration Health Surveillance Questionnaire.

Mortality in workers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin at a trichlorophenol plant in New Zealand.

Objective: We examined the overall mortality rates of 1599 workers employed between 1969 and 1988 at a New Zealand site, which manufactured trichlorophenol.

Methods: We developed exposure estimates for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin from a serum dioxin evaluation and used standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and proportional hazards models to evaluate risk from exposure.

Results: Among exposed workers, deaths from total cancers (SMR = 1.

Mortality in employees at a New Zealand agrochemical manufacturing site.

Background: Previous studies at the Dow AgroSciences (Formerly Ivon Watkins-Dow) plant in New Plymouth, New Zealand, had raised concerns about the cancer risk in a subset of workers at the site with potential exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. As the plant had been involved in the synthesis and formulation of a wide range of agrochemicals and their feedstocks, we examined the mortality risk for all workers at the site.

Aims: To quantify the mortality hazards arising from employment at the Dow AgroSciences agrochemical production site in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Chemical exposure among NZ farmers.

The objectives were to describe chemical use among farmers; to develop an exposure intensity score for three chemicals of interest: organophosphates (OPs), glyphosate (GP), and phenoxy herbicides (PHs). This was a cross-sectional study of a stratified random sample of farmers. Demographic, health and chemical use information were collected via questionnaire and an exposure level score developed.

Obtaining health information from farmers: interviews versus postal questionnaires in a New Zealand case study.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of interviewer-led and postal surveys in gathering adequate health data for occupational health programmes among farmers.

Methods: Two cross-sectional studies of farmers from southern New Zealand were conducted. Farms were randomly selected from the public land valuation roll and all farmers and farm workers invited to participate in the farmers' health study.

Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing conservation in mining.

Background: Noise exposure is prevalent in mining, and as the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss has not changed much in the past two decades, hearing conservation is an important issue.

Objectives: To review the literature and highlight important developments in the field.

Methods: A review of the literature using OVID as the primary search engine, using the search terms as: noise, occupational; hearing loss, noise induced; ear protective devices; and mining.

Noise exposure and hearing loss in agriculture: a survey of farmers and farm workers in the Southland region of New Zealand.

Farmers are known to be exposed to intermittent intense noise from a variety of sources, but long-term exposure and the resulting risk of hearing loss have not been well characterized. We studied a cross-sectional random sample of farms on which agricultural workers completed an audiometric test and questionnaire, and performed noise dosimetry on a subsample. Sixty-five percent of farms and a total of 586 workers participated.