Personal Exposure to Benzene from Fuel Emissions Among Commercial Fishers: Comparison of Two-Stroke, Four-Stroke and Diesel Engines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Egeghy P ; Kirrane E ; Loomis D ; Nylander-French L
• Description:
  Commercial fishers are exposed to unburned hydrocarbon vapors and combustion products present in the emissions from their boat engines. The objective of this study was to measure personal exposure to benzene as a marker of fuel exposure, and to predict exposure levels across categories of carbureted two-stroke, four-stroke and diesel engines. A self-monitoring approach, employing passive monitors, was used to obtain measurements of personal exposure to benzene over time. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to predict exposure levels, identify significant effects and determine restricted maximum likelihood estimates for within- and between-person variance components. Significant fixed effects for engine type and refueling a car or truck were identified. After controlling for refueling, predicted benzene exposure levels to fishers on boats equipped with two-stroke, four-stroke and diesel engines were 58.4, 38.9 and 15.7 microg/m3, respectively. The logged within-person variance component was 1.43, larger than the between-person variance component of 1.13, indicating that the total variation may be attributable to monitor placement, environmental conditions and other factors that change over time as well as differences between individual work practices. The health consequences of exposure to marine engine emissions are not known. The predicted levels are well below those at which health effects have been attributed, however. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Benzene Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Fuel Oils Hunting Occupational Health Safety Solvents Vehicle Emissions Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Benzenes Diesel-exhausts Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Environmental-factors Environmental-hazards Environmental-pollution Exposure-assessment Fishing-industry Fuels Fumes Gases Long-term-exposure Long-term-study Vapors Work-areas Work-environment Work-practices Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  1559-0631
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  151-158
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032214
• Citation:
  J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2007 Mar; 17(2):151-158
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Ellen Kirrane, RTI International, Environmental Health and Epidemiology Program, Survey Research Division, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194
• Email:
  ekirrane@rti.org
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7035
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1141 - Fishing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20010401
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20030331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:96dfbd2480c56fdb36d9cdd6b855e9acc9f148384d81bcb72c7a6b0a4f7643c404f87cec525788b884dc61a2453b0ec8240990ce46e8d2c65d5f73643066346e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186252/cdc_186252_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 164.04 KB ]