Distribution of Upper Limit of the Prescriptive Zone Values for Acclimatized and Unacclimatized Individuals

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ashley CD ; Bernard, Thomas E. ; Kenney WL ; Lopez RM ; Odera AM ; Wolf ST
• Description:
  Heat stress has an adverse impact on worker health and well-being, and the effects will increase with more frequent and severe heat events associated with global warming. Acclimatization to heat stress is widely considered to be a critical mitigation strategy and wet bulb globe temperature- (WBGT-) based occupational standards and guidelines contain adjustments for acclimatization. The purpose here was to 1) compare the mean values for the upper limit of the prescriptive zone (ULPZ, below which the rise in core temperature is minimal) between unacclimatized and acclimatized men and women; 2) demonstrate that the change in the occupational exposure limit (delta OEL) due to acclimatization is independent of metabolic rate; 3) examine the relation between delta OEL and body surface area; and 4) compare the exposure-response curves between unacclimatized and acclimatized populations. Empirically derived ULPZ data for unacclimatized participants from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and acclimatized participants from University of South Florida (USF) were used to explore the difference between unacclimatized and acclimatized heat exposure limits. The findings provide support for a constant 3 degrees C WBGT OEL decrease to account for unacclimatized workers. Body surface area explained part of the difference in ULPZ values between men and women. Additionally, the pooled PSU and USF data provide insight into the distribution of individual values for the ULPZ among young, healthy unacclimatized and acclimatized populations in support of occupational heat stress guidelines. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Acclimatization Author Keywords: ULPZ Heat Stress Metabolic Rate Occupational Exposure Occupational Exposure Limits OELs Temperature Effects WBGT Worker Health
• ISSN:
  8750-7587
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  135
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068094
• Citation:
  J Appl Physiol 2023 Sep; 135(3):601-608
• Contact Point Address:
  Thomas E. Bernard, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa FL 33612
• Email:
  tbernard@health.usf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20000930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Applied Physiology
• End Date:
  20040929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e8e225e56a66b61ee5ef5725c6fb8cad048a2010a2981346209571ff15de6099df121bd5d979aa1ab0cfb90255496d373efd566f4b384a1ecbe7f7dd7c7ccdbd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230312/cdc_230312_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 667.62 KB ]