Utility of the complete blood count in routine medical surveillance for ethylene oxide exposure

Details

• Personal Author:
  Christiani, David C. ; Kelsey KT ; LaMontagne AD
• Description:
  Ethylene-oxide (75218) (EtO) medical surveillance was provided for sterilization workers at a 300 bed hospital over a period of 6 years. Workers completed occupational and medical histories, and received a physical examination and a complete blood count five times over the period. A persistent relative lymphocytosis was observed in these workers over a 3 to 4 year period. In general, 14 people were employed in the sterilization department at any one time, each rotating through EtO sterilization duties. Maintenance workers involved with or working near the units were also included in the study. The average EtO concentrations over 6 years in the area were below 0.1 parts per million (ppm). Occasional higher excursions were noted of variable magnitude. For 16 of the 36 workers who participated at least once in the personal monitoring, the mean time weighted average exposure over 8 hours was 0.07ppm. Most occupational and medical histories and physicals were normal. Several workers in 1985 and 1987 reported a history of apparent exposure related eye, nose and throat irritation. Study participants demonstrated significant anxiety about the potential reproductive and carcinogenic effects of EtO. The authors suggest that leukocyte differential may not be useful in routine medical surveillance for EtO exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hematologic Tests Irritants Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Urogenital Diseases
• Keywords:
  Blood-analysis Blood-cells Cancer Health-care-personnel Medical-monitoring NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Occupational-exposure Reproductive-system-disorders Respiratory-irritants
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  191-206
• Volume:
  24
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00216280
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 1993 Aug; 24(2):191-206
• Contact Point Address:
  Environmental Health Harvard School of Public Hlth 665 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19910930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19940929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2bfef3a0d4d390f01b6073f709a93346e5812cc70a8bc9f2747cdb70d4359e465c323c252232abe4cbf911560ed07423cdaf52be018f3a14df5388ec61d95061
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205855/cdc_205855_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.07 MB ]