Association of metrics of peak exposure with beryllium sensitisation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kent M ; Schuler C ; Stanton M ; Stefaniak, Aleksandr B. ; Virji, M. Abbas
• Description:
  Interday or intraday high-intensity exposures (i.e., exposure peaks) may be more relevant for initiating beryllium sensitisation (BeS); such exposures may exceed a threshold necessary to activate the immune response. This study evaluated the relationships of exposure metrics reflecting normal process variation and upset conditions with the prevalence of BeS. In a study of workers employed from 1994-1999 at a primary beryllium manufacturing facility, exposure metrics were developed using personal full-shift measurement, 15 minutes to 24 hour process-specific area measurements, and process-upset information gleaned from historical reports. Quantitative intensity metrics included highest-ever job-specific average, maximum, 95th percentile, upper tolerance limit (UTL), exceedance fractions (>0.2 and >2 mg/m3), and the product of the geometric mean and geometric standard deviation (GMxGSD). Qualitative metrics included professional judgment of process-upsets (PJPU), and number of process-upset events (e.g., power outage). Relationships among these metrics were evaluated using Spearman correlation and their association with BeS was evaluated using logistic regression with splined and log-transformed exposures. As anticipated, a high degree of correlation existed among metrics within full-shift measurements (rS: 0.57-0.99) and task/ process measurements (rS: 0.56-0.96), and moderate correlation across the two measurement types (rS: 0.48-0.79). Most of these metrics were associated with BeS in logistic models of log-transformed exposures. In splined models, non-linear associations were observed with average, 95th percentile, UTL, and exceedance fraction > 2 mg/m3 from the personal samples. Strong associations with BeS were observed for GMxGSD (OR = 1.8 and 3.6) and PJPU (OR = 8.3 and 8.5) for medium and high categories compared to low category. Professional judgments regarding process-upset potential and the combined GMxGSD were valuable in predicting BeS; each may reflect a different aspect of interday and intraday exposure peaks. Non-linear associations were possibly due to confounding by chemical form and/or skin exposure, use of respiratory protection, presence of a threshold and/or by genetic susceptibility. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Beryllium Environmental Exposure Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Beryllium Compounds Exposure Levels Manufacturing Models Risk Factors Sampling Work Environment Workers
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  RHD - Respiratory Health Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  73
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048716
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2016 Sep; 73(Suppl 1):A90
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Epidemiology in Occupational Health - EPICOH 2016 - September 4-7, 2016, Barcelona, Spain
• Supplement:
  1
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2594b838d66e4c5c909909d757bec3f369e04605593fa57f55421ace5cc1ab6f179e89eb4965568ee144e86038f53207fce2211d615ee1eac1066f98e455af4d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203402/cdc_203402_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 68.72 KB ]