Exposure to organic solvents during cosmetic finishing of cars.
The objectives of this study were to assess the exposure to organic solvents during degreasing, washing and polishing of cars, and to obtain information about acute health symptoms in car-finishing workers. Fifteen car shops participated in this study, and at these locations 36 workers had car finishing as their main working task. All 36 car-finishing workers and 17 randomly selected office workers from six of these car shops completed questionnaires on acute health symptoms. Personal monitoring of exposure to organic solvents was carried out in three representative shops. The highest exposure levels were found during degreasing of new cars, the median level of aliphatic hydrocarbons (C9-C13) being 22 p.p.m. (range 7-215 p.p.m.). This exposure level represents 50% (range 20-540%) of the Norwegian 8 h limit value for additive factor for these compounds. Only 28% of the workers used gas respirators regularly during this process. Very low exposure levels were detected during washing of second-hand cars and during polishing processes. The present study shows that car-finishing workers are exposed to high levels of organic solvents only for short periods of time. It seems that they are not adequately protected during these periods. However, the presence of acute symptoms was low, i.e. comparable to the prevalences in the reference group.
Bråtveit
M
M
Section for Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Ulriksdal 8c, N-5009 Bergen, Norway. magne.bratveit@isf.uib.no
Moen
B E
BE
D000208:Acute Disease; D001336:Automobiles; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D007219:Industrial Oils / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D012997:Solvents