Articles

Holi colours contain PM10 and can induce pro-inflammatory responses

At Holi festivals, originally celebrated in India but more recently all over the world, people throw coloured powder (Holi powder, Holi colour, Gulal powder) at each other. Adverse health effects, i.e. skin an...

Authors: Katrin Bossmann, Sabine Bach, Conny Höflich, Kerttu Valtanen, Rita Heinze, Anett Neumann, Wolfgang Straff and Katrin Süring

Job satisfaction of foreign-national physicians working in patient care: a cross-sectional study in Saxony, Germany

Physician migration is gaining attention worldwide. Despite increasing numbers of foreign physicians in Germany, their perceptions on working in Germany remain unexplored. Within a large survey on Saxon physic...

Authors: Birte Pantenburg, Katharina Kitze, Melanie Luppa, Hans-Helmut König and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

Is outdoor work associated with elevated rates of cerebrovascular disease mortality? A cohort study based on iron-ore mining

A cohort study that examined iron ore mining found negative associations between cumulative working time employed underground and several outcomes, including mortality of cerebrovascular diseases. In this coho...

Authors: Ove Björ, Håkan Jonsson, Lena Damber, Lage Burström and Tohr Nilsson

Textile industry and occupational cancer

Thousands of workers are engaged in textile industry worldwide. Textile industry involves the use of different kinds of dyes which are known to possess carcinogenic properties. Solvents used in these industrie...

Authors: Zorawar Singh and Pooja Chadha

Malignant mesothelioma incidence by nation-wide cancer registry: a population-based study

Malignant mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure has a long latency period. A ban on asbestos use may not be apparent in decreased incidence in the population until after several decades. The aim was to eval...

Authors: Kristinn Tomasson, Gunnar Gudmundsson, Haraldur Briem and Vilhjalmur Rafnsson

Does the Low-level occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds alter the seasonal variation of selected markers of oxidative stress? A case–control study in nail technicians

In this study we tested whether the seasonal variations in levels of selected biomarkers of oxidative stress in female nail technicians occupationally exposed to low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)...

Authors: Peter Grešner, Radosław Świercz, Magdalena Beata Król, Ewa Twardowska, Jolanta Gromadzińska and Wojciech Wąsowicz

A case-case study on sinonasal cancer prevention: effect from dust reduction in woodworking and risk of mastic/solvents in shoemaking

Sinonasal cancers (SNCs) are rare neoplasms, accounting for about 3 % of head and neck cancers, with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) as the most common subtypes. ADCs present strong asso...

Authors: Enzo Emanuelli, Enrico Alexandre, Diego Cazzador, Vera Comiati, Tiziana Volo, Alessia Zanon, Maria Luisa Scapellato, Mariella Carrieri, Alessandro Martini and Giuseppe Mastrangelo

Standard values of the upper body posture and postural control: a study protocol

Decisions on orthopedic interventions on upper body posture and its control have usually resulted from comparisons with the healthy state. Therefore, practitioners as well as scientists in human movement scien...

Authors: Daniela Ohlendorf, Christoph Mickel, Natalie Filmann, Eileen M. Wanke and David A. Groneberg

Quantification of cell-free DNA for evaluating genotoxic damage from occupational exposure to car paints

For several years, cell-free DNA has been emerging as an important biomarker for non-invasive diagnostic in a wide range of clinical conditions and diseases. The limited information available on the genotoxic ...

Authors: Mónica Villalba-Campos, Sandra Rocío Ramírez-Clavijo, Magda Carolina Sánchez-Corredor, Milena Rondón-Lagos, Milcíades Ibáñez-Pinilla, Ruth Marien Palma, Marcela Eugenia Varona-Uribe and Lilian Chuaire-Noack

Acetylsalicylic acid as a potential pediatric health hazard: legislative aspects concerning accidental intoxications in the European Union

Acetylsalicylic acid is a frequently used medication worldwide. It is not used in pediatrics due its association with Reye syndrome. However, in case of pediatric intoxication, children are more fragile to sal...

Authors: Menen E. Mund, Christoph Gyo, Dörthe Brüggmann, David Quarcoo and David A. Groneberg

Toll-like receptor 9 partially regulates lung inflammation induced following exposure to chicken barn air

Exposure to animal barn air is an occupational hazard that causes lung dysfunction in barn workers. Respiratory symptoms experienced by workers are typically associated with endotoxin and TLR4 signalling, but ...

Authors: David Schneberger, Gurpreet Aulakh, Shankaramurthy Channabasappa and Baljit Singh

Multiple subcutaneous granulomas and severe rhinitis after intradermal deposition of epoxy: a case report

We present an unusual case of subcutaneous granulomas that also highlights the importance of assessing possible associations between exposure and symptoms early in the diagnostic approach to prevent further ad...

Authors: Steffen Roth and Anne Kristin Møller Fell

Using IFN-gamma release assay to confirm tuberculin skin test improves the screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Italian healthcare workers

Healthcare workers (HCWs) represent a tuberculosis (TB) risk group for a wide range of tasks in healthcare, even in countries with low TB incidence, like Italy. Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) screening p...

Authors: Raffaela Olivieri, Sara Scarnera, Annalisa Ciabattini, Giulia De Vuono, Pietro Manzi, Gianni Pozzi, Giuseppe Battista and Donata Medaglini

A decade of an HIV workplace programme in armed conflict zones; a social responsibility response of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works in fragile States and in armed conflict zones. Some of them are affected by the HIV pandemic. Within the framework of its social responsibility program...

Authors: Stéphane Du Mortier, Silas Mukangu, Charles Sagna, Laurent Nyffenegger and Sigiriya Aebischer Perone

Drillers and mill operators in an open-pit gold mine are at risk for impaired lung function

Occupational studies of associations of exposures with impaired lung function in mining settings are built on exposure assessment and far less often on workplace approach, so the aim of this study was to ident...

Authors: Denis Vinnikov

Health behaviour, health status and occupational prospects of apprentice nurses and kindergarten teachers in Germany: a cross-sectional study

Apprentices in human service professions are exposed to emotional and physical stresses in their workplaces. Moreover, they are in the vulnerable phase of becoming an adult. Their lifestyle and health therefor...

Authors: Tanja Wirth, Agnessa Kozak, Grita Schedlbauer and Albert Nienhaus

Cardiovascular risk factors among industrial workers: a cross–sectional study from eastern Nepal

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one cause of death globally, more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause. An estimated 17.5 million people died from CVD in 2012, representing 46.2...

Authors: Prajjwal Pyakurel, Prahlad Karki, Madhab Lamsal, Anup Ghimire and Paras Kumar Pokharel

Influence of the Kinaesthetics care conception during patient handling on the development of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases – A scoping review

The Kinaesthetics care conception is a nursing approach for patient handling which aims to prevent work-related complaints and diseases. The evidence about the influence of Kinaesthetics on musculoskeletal dis...

Authors: Alice Freiberg, Maria Girbig, Ulrike Euler, Julia Scharfe, Albert Nienhaus, Sonja Freitag and Andreas Seidler

Stonefish envenomation of hand with impending compartment syndrome

Marine stings and envenomation are fairly common in Malaysia. Possible contact to various marine life occurs during diving, fishing and food handling. Even though majority of fish stings are benign, there are ...

Authors: Terence Khai Wei Tay, Han Zhe Chan, Tunku Sara Tunku Ahmad, Kok Kheng Teh, Tze Hau Low and Nuraliza Ab Wahab

“Decision-critical” work: a conceptual framework

“Safety-sensitive” workers, also termed “safety-critical” workers, have been subject to fitness to work assessments due to concerns that a performance error may result in worker injury, injury to coworkers or ...

Authors: Xiangning Fan, Charl Els, Kenneth J. Corbet and Sebastian Straube

Could the significantly increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis reported in Italian male steel workers be explained by occupational exposure to cadmium?

Multiple chronic disease risks have been identified in Italian furnace workers. A range of potential toxins have been identified in foundry dust. We suggest that the heavy metal cadmium (Cd) plays an important...

Authors: Daniel Murphy, Benjamin James and David Hutchinson

Wellbeing and occupational risk perception among health care workers: a multicenter study in Morocco and France

The study analyzes health care workers’ (HCWs) occupational risk perception and compares exposure to occupational risk factors in Moroccan and French hospitals.

Authors: Doina Ileana Giurgiu, Christine Jeoffrion, Christine Roland-Lévy, Benjamin Grasset, Brigitte Keriven Dessomme, Leila Moret, Yves Roquelaure, Alain Caubet, Christian Verger, Chakib El Houssine Laraqui, Pierre Lombrail, Christian Geraut and Dominique Tripodi

Standardized assessment of psychosocial factors and their influence on medically confirmed health outcomes in workers: a systematic review

Previous studies of psychosocial work factors have indicated their importance for workers’ health. However, to what extent health problems can be attributed to the nature of the work environment or other psych...

Authors: Susel Rosário, João A. Fonseca, Albert Nienhaus and José Torres da Costa

Identification of metal sensitization in sarcoid-like metal-exposed patients by the MELISA® lymphocyte proliferation test — a pilot study

Pulmonary function is often affected by the inhalation of metal particles. The resulting pathology might trigger various lung diseases, e.g., parenchymal lung fibrosis and granulomatous lung disorders. We prev...

Authors: Elizabeth Fireman, Amir Bar Shai, Yifat Alcalay, Noa Ophir, Shmuel Kivity and Vera Stejskal

Endotoxin, dust and exhaled nitrogen oxide among hand pickers of coffee; a cross-sectional study

Primary coffee processing takes place in countries where coffee is grown, and may include hand picking of coffee to remove low quality beans. Hand picking is mostly performed by women. No previous studies on d...

Authors: Bente Elisabeth Moen, Akwilina Kayumba, Gloria Sakwari, Simon Henry David Mamuya and Magne Bråtveit

Occupational injuries among building construction workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Occupational injuries can pose direct costs, like suffering, loss of employment, disability and loss of productivity, and indirect costs on families and society. However, there is a dearth of studies clarifyin...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse and Dagnachew Israel

Awareness of occupational hazards and associated factors among welders in Lideta Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Welding is a manufacturing industry where workers could be exposed to several hazards. However, there is a dearth of studies clarifying the situation in Ethiopia. The present study determined the level of awar...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse, Kassahun Bezabih, Bikes Destaw and Yalemzewod Assefa

Design and methodology of the Geo-social Analysis of Physicians’ settlement (GAP-Study) in Germany

Unequally distributed disease burdens within populations are well-known and occur worldwide. They are depending on residents’ social status and/or ethnic background. Country-specific health care systems - espe...

Authors: David A. Groneberg, Michael Boll and Jan Bauer

German version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ): translation and validation

Musculoskeletal disorders are a public health problem with significant effects on work ability. In the context of the promotion and prevention of work-related health, there is a need for valid, simple, time-sa...

Authors: Steffi Kreuzfeld, Reingard Seibt, Mohit Kumar, Annika Rieger and Regina Stoll

Daily commuting to work is not associated with variables of health

Commuting to work is thought to have a negative impact on employee health. We tested the association of work commute and different variables of health in German industrial employees.

Authors: Daniel Mauss, Marc N. Jarczok and Joachim E. Fischer

Work-related diabetes distress among Finnish workers with type 1 diabetes: a national cross-sectional survey

Diabetes distress is common among people with type 1 diabetes, but knowledge is scarce regarding the perceived burden of reconciling work with this disease. This cross-sectional study investigated work-related...

Authors: Pirjo Hakkarainen, Leena Moilanen, Vilma Hänninen, Jarmo Heikkinen and Kimmo Räsänen

Fipronil induces lung inflammation in vivo and cell death in vitro

Fipronil is an insecticide that acts at the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor and glutamate-gated chloride channels in the central nervous systems of target organisms. The use of fipronil is increasing across the ...

Authors: Kaitlin Merkowsky, Ram S. Sethi, Jatinder P. S. Gill and Baljit Singh

Use of an audience response system to maximise response rates and expedite a modified Delphi process for consensus on occupational health

Different methods have attempted to obtain consensus on occupational health issues. The objective of this paper is to describe a modified three-stage Delphi process that uses a wireless audience response syste...

Authors: Tar-Ching Aw, Tom Loney, Anza Elias, Soha Ali and Balázs Ádám

An updated re-analysis of the mortality risk from nasopharyngeal cancer in the National Cancer Institute formaldehyde worker cohort study

To determine whether the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) suggestion of a persistent increased mortality risk for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in relation to formaldehyde (FA) exposure is robust with respect t...

Authors: Gary M. Marsh, Peter Morfeld, Sarah D. Zimmerman, Yimeng Liu and Lauren C. Balmert

Health status of male steel workers at an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Trentino, Italy

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine if the workers of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which recycles scrap, had higher mortality and morbidity due to possible exposure to pollutants at w...

Authors: Roberto Cappelletti, Marcello Ceppi, Justina Claudatus and Valerio Gennaro

Utilization of personal protective equipment and associated factors among textile factory workers at Hawassa Town, Southern Ethiopia

Use of personal protective equipment is one of the important measures to safeguard workers from exposure to occupational hazards, especially in developing countries. However, there is a dearth of studies descr...

Authors: Sebsibe Tadesse, Temesgen Kelaye and Yalemzewod Assefa

Physicians’ working conditions in hospitals from the students’ perspective (iCEPT-Study)—results of a web-based survey

Medical students undergo numerous clinical clerkships. On these occasions they are confronted with current working conditions in hospitals. Because of the many implications of the students’ perceptions of thes...

Authors: Jan Bauer and David A. Groneberg

Consequences of tuberculosis among asylum seekers for health care workers in Germany

Immigrants have been contributing to the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Germany for many years. The current wave of migration of asylum seekers to Germany may increase that figure. Healthcare workers (HCW) ...

Authors: Roland Diel, Robert Loddenkemper and Albert Nienhaus

Erratum to: Vaccination against hepatitis b virus: are Italian medical students sufficiently protected after the public vaccination programme?

Authors: Monica Lamberti, Alfredo De Rosa, Elpidio Maria Garzillo, Anna Rita Corvino, Nicola Sannolo, Stefania De Pascalis, Eliana Di Fiore, Claudia Westermann, Antonio Arnese, Gabriella Di Giuseppe, Albert Nienhaus, Antônio Paulino Ribeiro Sobrinho and Nicola Coppola

Burnout among young physicians and its association with physicians’ wishes to leave: results of a survey in Saxony, Germany

Concerns about burnout, and its consequences, among German physicians are rising. However, data on burnout among German physicians are scarce. Also, a suspected association between burnout and German physician...

Authors: Birte Pantenburg, Melanie Luppa, Hans-Helmut König and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

Involvement of lysosomal dysfunction in silver nanoparticle-induced cellular damage in A549 human lung alveolar epithelial cells

While silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in consumer and medical products, the mechanism by which AgNPs cause pulmonary cytotoxicity is not clear. AgNP agglomerates are found in endo-lysosomal struct...

Authors: Takamitsu Miyayama and Masato Matsuoka

Usage of gloves for hair shampooing in German hairdressing salons

Occupational skin disease caused by wet work is particularly common in employees in hairdressing salons. The objective of this paper was to determine the frequency of glove use for hair shampooing.

Authors: Madeleine Dulon, Björn Kähler, Sandra Kirvel, Günter Schlanstedt and Albert Nienhaus

Use of alcohol and drugs by employees in selected business areas in Norway: a study using oral fluid testing and questionnaires

Alcohol or drug use and associated hangover may reduce workplace safety and productivity and also cause sickness absence. The aims of this study were to examine (i) the use of alcohol and drugs, and (ii) reduc...

Authors: Hilde Marie Erøy Edvardsen, Inger Synnøve Moan, Asbjørg S. Christophersen and Hallvard Gjerde

Occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study of a registry in Colombia

Occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens caused by percutaneous injuries or mucosal contamination is frequent among Healthcare Workers (HCW).

Authors: Carlos Pérez-Diaz, Omar-Javier Calixto, Álvaro A. Faccini-Martínez, Juan S. Bravo-Ojeda, Carlos A. Botero-García, Erika Uribe-Pardo, Yesid F. Mantilla-Florez, Fabian Benitez, Ada Duran and Johana Osorio

The occupational health of Santa Claus

Previous publications in the field of Santa studies have not focused on health and safety issues arising from Santa’s workplace activities. However, it should be acknowledged that unique occupational hazards e...

Authors: Sebastian Straube and Xiangning Fan

Paracetamol as a toxic substance for children: aspects of legislation in selected countries

Paracetamol is used widely in pediatrics because it has a high drug safety when used in therapeutic dosages. In case of overdose the majority of paracetamol is metabolized to N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAP...

Authors: Menen E. Mund, David Quarcoo, Christoph Gyo, Dörthe Brüggmann and David A. Groneberg

Attitude, reporting behavour and management practice of occupational needle stick and sharps injuries among hospital healthcare workers in Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Although the prevalence of blood borne pathogens in many developing countries is high, documentation of infections due to occupational exposure is limited. Seventy percent of the world’s HIV infected populatio...

Authors: Tolesa Bekele, Alem Gebremariam, Muhammedawel Kaso and Kemal Ahmed

Vaccination against hepatitis b virus: are Italian medical students sufficiently protected after the public vaccination programme?

The development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major achievement in terms of prevention of HBV infection. For the present study, we analysed the long-term immunogenicity and effectiven...

Authors: Monica Lamberti, Alfredo De Rosa, Elpidio Maria Garzillo, Anna Rita Corvino, Nicola Sannolo, Stefania De Pascalis, Eliana Di Fiore, Claudia Westermann, Antonio Arnese, Di Giuseppe Gabriella, Albert Nienhaus, Antônio Paulino Ribeiro Sobrinho and Nicola Coppola

Chronic low back pain among French healthcare workers and prognostic factors of return to work (RTW): a non-randomized controlled trial

Many factors influence the return to work of workers with chronic low back pain (CLBP). They have been said to vary according to socio-professional group. This study first aimed to compare prognostic factors i...

Authors: B. Cougot, A. Petit, C. Paget, C. Roedlich, G. Fleury-Bahi, M. Fouquet, P. Menu, C. Dubois, C. Geraut, Y. Roquelaure and D. Tripodi

Subjective stress, objective heart rate variability-based stress, and recovery on workdays among overweight and psychologically distressed individuals: a cross-sectional study

The present study aimed to investigate how subjective self-reported stress is associated with objective heart rate variability (HRV)-based stress and recovery on workdays. Another aim was to investigate how physi...

Authors: Tiina Föhr, Asko Tolvanen, Tero Myllymäki, Elina Järvelä-Reijonen, Sanni Rantala, Riitta Korpela, Katri Peuhkuri, Marjukka Kolehmainen, Sampsa Puttonen, Raimo Lappalainen, Heikki Rusko and Urho M. Kujala