[Carcinogens exposure risk control: balance and strategies of action within the most emblematic industrial divisions].
In Italy during the last three decades important changes in employment have occurred. During the '70s, thanks to a variety of factors, the hygiene conditions of work have undergone a process of slow, but gradual improvement, which has not been arrested during the following decades. New legislation, partly deriving from European directives, has been introduced, and processes of outsourcing have moved the most burdensome and pollutants industrial productions to developing countries. Nevertheless, the estimates of the number of exposed (or even potentially so) workers, to carcinogens remain quite high. Currently, in absence of the planned National Information System on Prevention, it is impossible to estimate in how many and which workplaces primary prevention plans and facilities have been already installed. This paper aims to describe the situation related to most occupationally diffused carcinogenic agents: asbestos, wood and crystalline silica dusts, each one for its specificity. It also describes the innovations introduced by the most recent legislation, in particular with regard to the asbestos risk control. Finally, it stresses the need for a reform of the insurance premiums in order to introduce a mechanism for rewarding those employers who implement primary prevention facilities and penalizing those who don't. The economic advantages should gradually cover the cost of risk control technology.
Silvestri
Stefano
S
U.O. Epidemiologia ambientale-occupazionale, Istituto per lo studio e la prevenzione oncologica, Firenze, Italia. s.silvestri@ispo.toscana.it
D001195:Asbestosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000145:classification; D005060:Europe; D005062:European Union; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D007256:Information Systems; D007558:Italy; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012307:Risk Factors; D012829:Silicosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017132:Workplace / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014944:World Health Organization
D002273:Carcinogens; D015386:Hazardous Substances