Introduction to Industrial Hygiene

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Introduction to Industrial Hygiene
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Industrial Hygiene

• Part science, part art
• Industrial Hygiene is the application of
  scientific principles in the workplace to prevent
  the development of occupational disease or injury
• Requires knowledge of chemistry, physics,
  anatomy, physiology, mathematics

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IH Topics

• Toxicology
• Occupational Health Standards
• Airborne Hazards
• Indoor Air Quality
• Skin Disorders
• Noise Exposure
• Radiation
• Thermal Stress

• Anatomy
• Biohazards
• Chemicals
• Illumination
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Ventilation
• Vibration
• Sampling

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History of IH

• Disease resulting from exposure to chemicals or
  physical agents have existed ever since people
  chose to use or handle materials with toxic
  potential
• In the far past, causes were not always recognized

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Earliest Recordings

• Lead poisoning among miners by Hippocrates, 4th
  century BC
• Zinc and sulfur hazards by Pliny the Elder, 3rd
  century BC

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The Original Metallica

• Georgius Agricola published a 12 volume set in
  1556, De Re Metallica
• Town physician in Saxony
• Silver mining
• Described diseases of lungs, joints, eyes
• Woodcuts (see next slides)

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Metallica Quotes

• If the dust has corrosive qualities, it eats
  away at the lungs, and implants consumption in
  the body
• Later determined to be silicosis, tuberculosis,
  and lung cancer

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Metallica Quotes

• there is found in the mines black pompholyz,
  which eats wounds and ulcers to the bone this
  also corrodes iron . . . There is a certain kind
  of cadmia which eats away at the feet of workmen
  when they have become wet, and similarly their
  hands, and injures their lungs and eyes.
• Later recognized as manifestations of toxicity of
  arsenic and cadmium

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Metallica cont.

• A young American named Herbert C. Hoover and his
  wife, L.H. Hoover, translated Agricolas work
  into English.
• The translation was published in 1912
• Hoover graduated from Stanford in 1891 as a
  Mining Engineer
• Hoover served as the 31st president of the US
  (1929 1933)

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Paracelsus

• Published work describing mercury poisoning of
  miners in 1567
• His famous quote, All substances are poisons
  there is none which is not a poison. The right
  dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.
• This provided the basis for the concept of the
  dose-response relationship.

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Dose-Response Relationship

• The toxicity of a substance depends not only on
  its toxic properties, but also on the amount of
  exposure, or the dose
• Paracelsus differentiated between
• Chronic (low-level, long-term) poisoning
• Acute (high-level, short-term) poisoning

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Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714)

• Wrote a book, De Morbis Artificum (Diseases of
  Workers), starting the field of occupational
  medicine
• Urged physicians to ask the question, Of what
  trade are you?
• He described diseases associated with various
  lower-class trades, such as corpse carriers and
  laundresses.

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Other Pioneers around 1770

• Sir George Baker
• Linked Devonshire colic to lead in cider
• Percival Pott
• Linked soot exposure and scrotal cancer in
  chimney sweeps

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The Mad Hatter

• Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland (1865)
• Mad Hatter exhibited symptoms of mercury
  poisoning, such as mental and personality changes
  marked by depression and tendency to withdraw
• Mercury was used in processing hides made into
  hats
• Bars were installed on windows at hat factories
  presumably to prevent afflicted workers from
  leaping during bouts of depression

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Protection Starts to Arrive

• English Factory Act, 1833, allows injured workers
  to receive compensation
• English Factory Inspectorate, 1878
• US Workers Compensation started in 1908-1915 in
  several states (state programs, not federal)
• Occupational Safety Health Act enacted in 1970
  creating OSH Administration
• Created regulations, inspections, recordkeeping,
  enforcement, etc.

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Birth of Industrial Hygiene

• A few industrial hygienists were practicing in
  early 1900s
• Physicians sometimes saw the industrial hygienist
  as a threat to their realm of expertise
• Dr. Alice Hamilton was a pioneer Occupational
  Physician and female pioneer. She helped foster
  the field of IH in the US
• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
  formed in 1939

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Industrial Hygiene

• Other terms
• Occupational Hygiene
• Environmental Hygiene
• Environmental Health

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Professional Organizations

• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA),
  www.aiha.org, member organization
• American Conference of Governmental Industrial
  Hygienists (ACGIH), www.acgih.org, member
  organization for government employees
• American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH),
  www.abih.org, independent organization that
  administers certification programs for industrial
  hygiene professionals
• IHIT, Industrial Hygienist in Training
• CIH, Certified Industrial Hygienist
• Requires maintenance of certification

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Definition of Industrial Hygiene

• An Industrial Hygienist is a person having a
  college degree in engineering, chemistry,
  physics, medicine, or related physical and
  biological sciences, who has also received
  specialized training in recognition, evaluation,
  and control of workplace stressors and therefore
  achieved competence in industrial hygiene. The
  specialized studies and training must be
  sufficient so that the individual is able to 1)
  anticipate and recognize the environmental
  factors and understand their effects on people
  and their well-being 2) evaluate, on the basis
  of experience and with the aid of quantitative
  measurement techniques, the magnitude of these
  stresses in terms of the stressors ability to
  impair human health and well-being and 3)
  prescribe methods to eliminate, control, or
  reduce such stresses when necessary to diminish
  their effects.

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Scope of IH

• Recognition, Evaluation, and Control of hazards
  or agents
• Chemical Agents
• Dusts, mists, fumes, vapors, gases
• Physical Agents
• Ionizing and nonionizing radiation, noise,
  vibration, and temperature extremes
• Biological Agents
• Insects, molds, yeasts, fungi, bacteria, viruses
• Ergonomic Agents
• Monotony, fatigue, repetitive motion

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2nd Aspect Evaluation of Agents

• Observations
• Quantitative measurement of the agents of concern
• Experience and knowledge of Industrial Hygienist

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3rd Aspect Control of Agents

• Controls in this order of preference
• Engineering Controls
• Engineering changes in design, equipment,
  processes
• Substituting a non-hazardous material
• Administrative Controls
• Reduce the human exposure by changes in
  procedures, work-area access restrictions, worker
  rotation
• Personal Protective Equipment / Clothing
• Ear plugs / muffs, safety glasses / goggles,
  respirators, gloves, clothing, hard-hats

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Knowledge Basis for IH
Disciplines Involved Applications in IH
Physics, math, anatomy, physiology Hazard evaluations of noise, illumination, lasers, radiation, and ergonomics
Chemistry, anatomy, physiology, toxicology Toxic chemical exposure evaluations of carcinogen hazard assessment and reproductive hazard assessments
Physics, chemistry, statistics Measuring exposures to chemical and physical agents, interpreting lab analytical reports. Use of direct reading instruments.
Statistics, epidemiology, physics, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, toxicology, language skills Interpreting study and lab results, critical review of research, performing research
Language skills Interactions with workers, management, and clients writing reports and papers design of programs
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IH as Part of an Overall Safety Program

• General Safety
• Ergonomics
• Industrial Hygiene
• Wellness / Fitness

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IH Program Minimum Elements

1. Recognition of health hazards
2. Evaluation of health hazards
3. Control of health hazards
4. Recordkeeping
5. Employee training
6. Periodic program review

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1. Recognition of health hazards

• Walk-through survey with someone knowledgeable of
  the processes
• Regular intervals, keep records
• Planning stage reviews
• Modification reviews
• MSDS reviews

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2. Evaluation of hazards

• Measurements
• Air sampling, noise meters, light meters, thermal
  stress meters, accelerometers (vibration)
• Calculation of dose
• Level and duration of exposure
• Keep records

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3. Control of Hazards (Prioritized)

• 1 Engineering
• Substitute a less hazardous material, local
  exhaust ventilation
• 2 Administrative
• Worker rotation, training
• 3 Personal Protective Equipment
• Respirators, gloves, eye protection, ear
  protection, etc.

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4. Recordkeeping

• Important in all phases of the program
• Often required by regulation
• 29 CFR 1904
• Increase program effectiveness
• Useful in legal challenges

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5. Employee training

• Effective component if total program is
  implemented and engineering controls are first
  established
• Often required by regulation
• Right to Know or Hazard Communication Standard
  29 CFR 1910.1200
• Regular intervals
• Keep it interesting and effective, use a variety
  of techniques
• Keep records of dates, individuals, topics,
  effectiveness

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6. Program review

• Regular intervals (yearly, semi-annual)
• Review the written program as well as the
  implementation
• Updates for new regulations, new chemicals, new
  processes, or any changes
• Audit components of the program
• Internal OSHA inspection
• Involve employees, consultants, management