title: Job-exposure matrix for the assessment of alkylphenolic compounds.
abstract: Our aim was to develop a job-exposure matrix (JEM) to assess occupational exposure to alkylphenolic compounds in epidemiological research, considering changes in their use over time, and including exposure probabilities in the assessments.
  
  
  
  We consulted multiple sources of information, and performed interviews with 9 key people from industry and academia. 3 hygienists coded frequency (minority or majority of workers involved) and intensity of exposure (including dispersive processes, with shaking, or aerosol generation, or otherwise) to alkylphenolic compounds for all the 390 International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)-88 job titles by period of time. Intensity and frequency of exposure were combined in a single score as follows: unlikely=0, occasionally+low intensity=1, occasionally+high intensity=2, frequent+low intensity=2, and frequent+high intensity=3.
  
  
  
  We identified 54 (13.8%) of the 390 ISCO-88 job titles with potential exposure to alkylphenolic compounds. In 6 of jobs deemed as exposed, exposure depended on the economic sector of the occupation. Nonylphenol ethoxylates were the compounds most commonly involved (30 job titles, 55.6% of the exposed). Variations in alkylphenolic compounds use varied greatly over time; while they are still used in the plastic and rubber industry, in domestic cleaning agents their use began to decline before 1995.
  
  
  
  We built a JEM to assess exposure to alkylphenolic compounds, taking into account changes in use over time, different types of alkylphenolic compounds and different scenarios of exposure, which can be a valuable tool for exposure assessment in epidemiological research on the health effects of these chemicals.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Seguretat i Salut Laboral, Departament de Treball, Afers Socials i Famílies, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mayte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martín-Bustamante
authors.affiliation: Institut de Seguretat i Salut Laboral, Departament de Treball, Afers Socials i Famílies, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oliete-Canela
authors.affiliation: Institut de Seguretat i Salut Laboral, Departament de Treball, Afers Socials i Famílies, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diéguez-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Unit of Infections and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, IDIBELL, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Benavente
authors.affiliation: Unit of Infections and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, IDIBELL, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Casabonne
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology and Public Health, Huelva University, Huelva, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alguacil
authors.affiliation: CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Manolis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kogevinas
authors.affiliation: Unit of Infections and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, IDIBELL, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Sanjosé
authors.affiliation: Unit of Infections and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, IDIBELL, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Costas
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols
keywords: alkylphenols; ethoxylates; job-exposure matrix; nonylphenol; octylphenol