Pinch Grip per SE Is Not an Occupational Risk Factor for the Musculoskeletal System: An Experimental Study on Field.

Introduction: Some ergonomic evaluation methods define pinch grip as a risk factor independent of the exerted force. The present experimental study was performed with the main aim of objectively measuring the muscle engagement during the execution of pinch grip.

Methods: the participants of the study were healthy workers occupationally involved in a high-intensity repetitive job related to the sorting of letters and small packages.

Seroepidemiology of Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella in Italian Female School Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Determining the proportion of susceptible workers can represent a first step to the biological risk assessment related to measles, mumps, rubella and varicella exposure. This study aimed to assess the immunity against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella viruses in a cohort of female school workers.

Methods: A cross-sectional seroepidemiological study in a sample of 263 school workers undergoing routine annual workplace health surveillance program was conducted.

Reply to Comment on Lecca, L.I.; Portoghese, I.; Mucci, N.; Galletta, M.; Meloni, F.; Pilia, I.; Marcias, G.; Fabbri, D.; Fostinelli, J.; Lucchini, R.G.; Cocco, P.; Campagna, M. Association between Work-Related Stress and QT Prolongation in Male Workers.

We appreciate the interest raised by our paper on the association between conditions linked to work-related stress and the prolongation of the QT interval on the electrocardiogram [...

Association between Work-Related Stress and QT Prolongation in Male Workers.

Unlabelled: Background: Work-related stress is a potential cardiovascular risk factor, but the underlying mechanism is not fully explained. The autonomic nervous system control of cardiac function might play a specific role; therefore, monitoring the QT interval in the electrocardiogram can highlight an autonomic imbalance induced by occupational stressors. The aim of our study was to explore the QT interval parameters as early indicators of imbalance of the autonomic cardiac function in relation to work-related stress.

Erratum to "Development of a New Sequential Extraction Procedure of Nickel Species on Workplace Airborne Particulate Matter: Assessing the Occupational Exposure to Carcinogenic Metal Species".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2018/3812795.].

Education and Training in Global Occupational Health and Safety: A Perspective on New Pathways to Sustainable Development.

The institution of specific Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) training programs open to international trainees from developing countries in some European, American and Asian universities is now a well-established reality. Courses and seminars that focus particularly on this subject, widely varying in approach and duration, have been held for years at these universities; these academic institutions have combined their potential to attract students from developing countries with the scheduling of interesting lectures and training activities, depending on the availability of funds sufficient to cover travel and lodging costs. Interdisciplinarity is the key to the entire program and is its main strength, as the trainees have the opportunity to condense the technical notions and methodological aspects of different disciplines (occupational health, industrial hygiene, safety management, ergonomics) in one course.

Development of a New Sequential Extraction Procedure of Nickel Species on Workplace Airborne Particulate Matter: Assessing the Occupational Exposure to Carcinogenic Metal Species.

Nickel (Ni) compounds and metallic Ni have many industrial and commercial applications, including their use in the manufacturing of stainless steel. Due to the specific toxicological properties of the different Ni species, there is a growing interest about the availability of analytical methods that allow specific risk assessment, particularly related to exposure to the Ni species classified as carcinogenic. In this paper, we described a speciation method of inorganic Ni compounds in airborne particulate matter, based on selective sequential extractions.

Birth and development of the SIMLII Guidelines program.

Objectives: This paper aims to review the steps that the Italian Society Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene (SIMLII) has undertaken over the past two decades in the context of a process of integration with quality systems, resulting in several initiatives including the production of different tools for the updating and professional qualification of the Occupational Health Physician (OHP).

Methods: The choice of focusing on a propositional-formative model such as the guidelines (GL) and the choice of the topics to be dealt with, was based on the need to provide the OHP with appropriate tools in order to face the complexity, specificity and rapidity of knowledge evolution which characterize our discipline.

Results: After the release of the first set of instruments (25 GL) over the five-year period 2003-2008, it became necessary to adhere to the guidelines of the GL National Program, distinguishing GL's evidence based, from consensus / orientation documents or technical assessments.

Environmental and biological monitoring of occupational exposure to polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons during highway pavement construction in Italy.

Objectives: We performed a cross-sectional study with the main aim of evaluating occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in workers involved in the pavement construction of a new highway in Northern Italy, where modified bitumen was used as binder for Hot Mix Asphalt.

Methods: We applied a combined approach of air and biological monitoring. Both the aerosol and vapour phases of bitumen were collected applying the NIOSH 5506 method.

Composition of Metallic Elements and Size Distribution of Fine and Ultrafine Particles in a Steelmaking Factory.

The characteristics of aerosol, in particular particle size and chemical composition, can have an impact on human health. Particle size distribution and chemical composition is a necessary parameter in occupational exposure assessment conducted in order to understand possible health effects. The aim of this study was to characterize workplace airborne particulate matter in a metallurgical setting by synergistically using two different approaches; Methodology: Analysis of inhalable fraction concentrations through traditional sampling equipment and ultrafine particles (UFP) concentrations and size distribution was conducted by an Electric Low-Pressure Impactor (ELPI+™).

Biological monitoring of exposure to low concentrations of benzene in workers at a metallurgical coke production plant: new insights into S-phenylmercapturic acid and urinary benzene.

Context: Urinary S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA) and benzene (U-Ben) are usually measured at the end of the work shift (ES), although their kinetic of elimination is not clearly known.

Objective: To investigate SPMA and U-Ben elimination 16 h after the ES, in 93 coke production workers exposed to low benzene concentrations.

Materials And Methods: Airborne benzene (A-Ben) was measured by passive samplings, while SPMA, U-Ben, methyl-tert-butyl ether (U-MTBE), cotinine (U-Cot) and creatinine were determined on urine samples collected at ES and before the beginning of the next work shift (next BS).

Assessment of residual exposure to PCBs in metallurgy.

Objective: To evaluate the occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 56 workers employed in 6 electric arc furnace steelmaking plants and 2 secondary aluminum smelting plants located in the highly industrialized area of Brescia, Northern Italy.

Methods: Thirty-four PCB congeners were found in both environmental and biological samples from workers engaged in scrap yards, electric arc furnaces, casting and maintenance departments.

Results: The highest airborne PCB levels were found in the aluminum plant, even 100 times those detected in the steelwork plants.

[Carcinogenic risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: classification and interpretation of the monitoring].

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread contaminants characterized by various chemical, physical and toxic properties. The characterization of occupational and environmental exposures and the use of suitable measurements protocols are very significant because their presence in mixtures and environmental persistency. In the past few years, the knowledge concerning carcinogenicity of PAHs have been reviewed, the mechanisms involved are the interaction of PAH's metabolites with DNA and oxidative damages.

European genome-wide association study identifies SLC14A1 as a new urinary bladder cancer susceptibility gene.

Three genome-wide association studies in Europe and the USA have reported eight urinary bladder cancer (UBC) susceptibility loci. Using extended case and control series and 1000 Genomes imputations of 5 340 737 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we searched for additional loci in the European GWAS. The discovery sample set consisted of 1631 cases and 3822 controls from the Netherlands and 603 cases and 37 781 controls from Iceland.