Serial evaluations at an indium-tin oxide production facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cummings, Kristin J. ; Day, Gregory A. ; Edwards, Nicole T. ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; Liang X ; Saito, Rena ; Stanton, Marcia L. ; Suarthana, Eva
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: We evaluated the effectiveness of workplace changes to prevent indium lung disease, using 2002-2010 surveillance data collected by an indium-tin oxide production facility. METHODS: We assessed pulmonary function using lower limits of normal. Blood indium concentration and personal air sampling data were used to estimate exposure. RESULTS: Abnormalities were uncommon at hire. After hire, prevalence of spirometric restriction was 31% (n=14/45), about fourfold higher than expected. Excessive decline in FEV1 was elevated at 29% (n=12/41). Half (n=21/42) had blood indium =5µg/l. More recent hires had fewer abnormalities. There was a suggestion that abnormalities were more common among workers with blood indium =5µg/l, but otherwise an exposure-response relationship was not evident. Peak dust concentrations were obscured by time averaging. CONCLUSIONS: Evolving lung function abnormalities consistent with subclinical indium lung disease appeared common and merit systematic investigation. Traditional measures of exposure and response were not illustrative, suggesting fresh approaches will be needed. Workplace changes seemed to have had a positive though incomplete impact; novel preventive interventions are warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Dust Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Author Keywords: Indium Dust-exposure Dust-particles Exposure-levels Indium-tin Oxide Interstitial Lung Disease Lung-disease Lung-disorders Occupational Illness Particulate-dust Pulmonary-function Sampling Surveillance Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  300-307
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041760
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2013 Mar; 56(3):300-307
• Contact Point Address:
  Kristin J. Cummings, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505
• Email:
  kcummings@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Indium tin oxide (In1.69Sn0.15O2.85) (CAS RN 71243-84-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fbc9c4e61396e9275d35285cf580859c99f6655c08163de1a1da774ba8007a32d51341c6c51fba853035d891c25cfa7e938e32d91ab70944e6df98b1dfe76f50
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194234/cdc_194234_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 420.54 KB ]