Medical Surveillance of Clandestine Drug Lab Investigators

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burgess JL ; Hysong TA ; Kovalchick DF ; McCurdy SA ; Siegel EM
• Description:
  Law enforcement officers investigating clandestine drug laboratories may be exposed to a wide range of hazardous chemicals. This study was conducted to determine the extent of persistent health effects seen in California drug laboratory investigators after occupational exposure. Study participants with a minimum of 1 year of laboratory investigations completed a questionnaire evaluating occupational and personal health history and consented to review of their medical surveillance examinations and administrative records. The 40 participating investigators averaged 6.1 +/- 2.5 annual medical evaluations for the period 1991 to 1998. Average annual decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was 64.0 +/- 138.0 mL/year (median, 40.0 mL/year). For 34 subjects with valid exposure data, longer duration use of respiratory protection was associated with a less rapid decline in FEV1, whereas lack of respiratory protection during the processing phase of laboratory investigation was associated with a more rapid annual decline. There were no significant longitudinal changes in serum alanine aminotransferase, serum aspartate aminotransferase, hemoglobin, and white blood cell count, although platelets declined slightly. Law enforcement personnel investigating clandestine drug laboratories may have long-term respiratory effects from chemical exposure, for which more assiduous use of respiratory protection is recommended. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Laboratories Law Enforcement Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Drugs Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Laboratory-testing Laboratory-work Law-enforcement Law-enforcement-workers Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Questionnaires Respiratory-protection Respiratory-system-disorders

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  184-189
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031191
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2002 Feb; 44(2):184-189
• Contact Point Address:
  University of Arizona, 1435 N. Fremont, Box 210468, Tucson, AZ 85719-4197, USA
• Email:
  jburgess@u.arizona.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19950701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20060630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:497290c7af3b02197202e93bc68fbf0b8f6ba3bdd562d5b5f0a5e67d1f2ae6ca865f6866d9c6c673ae342ed76f7ee5d6e2d6b909f3856fc9c9312c2504bbbd0d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191514/cdc_191514_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 102.61 KB ]