Occupational exposure to carcinogenic wood dust in two Italian biomass power plants.

In this study we monitored exposure to airborne dust in workers performing various tasks at two biomass-fuelled thermal power plants (27 and 46 MW) over six years. The plants are mainly fuelled by forest wood chips and, to a lesser extent, by agro-food products, with annual consumption of about 300 and 450 kt. We focused on inhalable wood dust because of its potential carcinogenicity to humans.

[Metabolomic profiles of exhaled breath condensate of 39 nickel exposed workers].

Nickel compounds have proven lung carcinogenic effects and their processing involve a large amount of population. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolomic profiles of Exhaled Breath Condensate (EBC) of a group of nickel exposed workers. Nickel in blood, urine and EBC of 39 workers (electroplaters) and 50 controls was measured.

[Chemical risk management in health care settings].

The aim of this review is pointing out the most relevant allergic and chemical risk factors in health care settings. Some tables summarize the main sensitizing agents, the most frequent allergic diseases and examples of alternative gloves and materials currently available. Some suggestions, to evaluate the allergic risk related to specific tasks in the different hospital departments, are given in order to underline possible failures and to plan focused preventive actions.

Fetal Doppler mechanical PR interval: correlation with fetal heart rate, gestational age and fetal sex.

Objectives: To establish normal fetal values for the mechanical PR interval by pulsed-wave Doppler at 16-36 weeks of gestation, and to evaluate the influence of fetal heart rate (FHR), gestational age (GA) and fetal sex.

Methods: Fetal mechanical PR intervals were evaluated prospectively by obstetric ultrasound examination. Healthy mothers with sonographically normal fetuses from singleton pregnancies were included.

[The presence of asbestos bodies in induced sputum as an indicator of asbestos exposure].

Background: Very few references on the usability of presence of asbestos bodies (AB) in induced sputum as an indicator of asbestos exposure are to be found in the scientific literature.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to prove whether the presence of AB in induced sputum is a valid assessor of asbestos exposure.

Method: This was achieved by comparing the above-mentioned method with the search for AB in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and repeating the trials over time in order to study the reproducibility of the results.