Occupational and Environmental Medicine

A large number of labourers work in the stone-crushing industry in India. Many of these workers are also exposed to high levels of particulate matter in their homes from the use of biomass fuels. As part of our investigations to examine the health of these workers we characterised their exposure to respirable crystalline silica and a number of other particulate matter exposure metrics in both occupational and domestic settings.

We used a combination of direct reading and gravimetric sampling of respirable dust, total ...

Long-term occupational exposure to mineral dusts including quartz is known to cause pneumoconiosis but little is known about the effects of such exposure during the period of lung development in childhood. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects on young people of exposure to mineral dusts.

We carried out a cross-sectional study of a group of 81 Indian stone crushers (average age 21) and a control group of 72 nearby slum dwellers (average age 21) in order to assess dust exposures, respiratory ...

The aim of this intervention study was to determine the effects of an alternative mouse and/or a forearm support board on the change in upper body discomfort scores and the development of incident musculoskeletal disorders.

This randomised controlled intervention trial followed 206 engineers for one year. Participants were randomised to receive (1) a conventional mouse only, (2) an alternative mouse only, (3) a forearm support board, or (4) an alternative mouse plus forearm support board. Outcome measures included weekly upper ...

Particulate air pollution affects cardiovascular and pulmonary disease and mortality. A main hypothesis about the mechanisms involved is that particles induce inflammation in lower airways, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress.

To examine whether short-term exposure to wood smoke in healthy subjects affects markers of pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress.

13 subjects were exposed first to clean air and then to wood smoke in a chamber during 4-hour sessions, 1 week apart. The ...

To examine gender differences in sickness absence spells of various lengths and to explain these differences by health status, working conditions and family-related factors.

The study included 5470 female and 1464 male employees of the City of Helsinki surveyed at baseline in 2000–2. These survey data were linked to the employer’s sickness absence records until the end of 2005, providing a mean follow-up time of 3.9 years. Explanations for gender differences in self-certified (1–3 days) and medically confirmed ...

Statistics from Labour Force Surveys are widely quoted as evidence for the scale of occupational illness in Europe. However, occupational attribution depends on whether participants believe their health problem is caused or aggravated by work, and personal beliefs may be unreliable. The authors assessed the potential for error for work-associated arm pain.

A questionnaire was emailed to working-aged adults, randomly chosen from five British general practices. They were asked about: occupational activities; mental health; ...

Previous studies estimate hand and wrist injuries are common in commercial fishing. Risk factors including working with catch, handling gear and slips or falls, have been identified from activity and injury contact reports, but no studies have examined the influence of transient risk factors, or triggers. This case crossover study design was conducted to investigate triggers for acute hand trauma in commercial fishing.

A case crossover study was nested within a previously established prospective cohort of 217 southeastern ...

Numerous studies have investigated the potential effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted by GSM mobile phones (~900 MHz to ~1800 MHz) on cognitive functioning, but results have been equivocal. In order to try and clarify this issue, the current study carried out a meta-analysis on 19 experimental studies.

Meta-analysis.

Nineteen studies were taken into consideration. Ten of them were included in the meta-analysis as they fulfilled several minimum requirements; for ...