Search Results (2,305)

The presence of heavy metals plays a significant role in indoor air quality, which poses a serious public health problem since most of the population spends over 90% of their time in indoor environments. This work investigates heavy metals in indoor dust across different occupational settings in Macao. Field sampling was conducted in five representative locations, which included restaurants, student dormitories, auto repair shops, offices, and parking security rooms, with a total of 11 samples collected in this study. Dust in the form of particulate matter was collected from air conditioning filters to quantify 14 heavy metal contents. The PMF model was applied for source apportionments of the heavy metals, while a health exposure model was used to assess health risks and evaluate the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks in the five representative workplaces. The PMF model identified six major pollution sources: traffic emissions (23.800%), building materials (21.600%), cooking activities (18.500%), chemicals (15.200%), electronic devices (12.300%), and outdoor seaport activities (8.600%). The health risk assessment showed that the overall non-carcinogenic risk (HI = 6.160 × 10⁻⁶ for inhalation, 1.720 × 10⁻³ for oral ingestion, and 2.270 × 10⁻⁵ for dermal contact) and total HI (1.749 × 10⁻³) and carcinogenic risk (6.570 × 10⁻⁹) were below the safety threshold, showing minimal health risk problems. Nevertheless, nickel and chromium were identified as the main contributors to potential long-term risks. Full article

The contemporary healthcare environment is characterized by high stress and emotional burden, contributing to increasing rates of professional burnout among clinicians. Exposure to patient death represents one of the most emotionally taxing experiences in medicine, particularly in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), where loss of life stands in stark contrast to the life-giving nature of the field. Despite extensive research on burnout in oncology and intensive care, the impact of patient death and death perception on OB/GYN clinicians remains underexplored. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationships between exposure to patient death, perceptions of death, professional burnout, and professional fulfillment among OB/GYN clinicians. A secondary aim was to explore whether participation in emotional regulation training was associated with these variables. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 138 OB/GYN clinicians. An author-developed questionnaire was used, comprising scales measuring professional burnout, positive and negative death perception, professional fulfillment, professional development, and a global death-impact index. Statistical analyses included Pearson’s correlation and the Mann–Whitney U test to compare clinicians who had attended emotional regulation training with those who had not. Results: Significant positive correlations were observed between burnout and the death-impact index (r = 0.90, p < 0.001) and between burnout and negative death perception (r = 0.23, p = 0.007). Professional fulfillment strongly correlated with professional development (r = 0.94, p < 0.001) and positively with positive death perception (r = 0.30, p < 0.001). No significant group differences were found regarding emotional regulation training participation. Conclusions: Exposure to patient death in OB/GYN is strongly associated with professional burnout and negative perceptions of death. Conversely, professional fulfillment and development function as factors promoting resilience and meaning. Further research should validate the applied measurement tools and examine the effectiveness of emotional regulation interventions in reducing occupational distress. Full article

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disease. Some occupational exposures are associated with ALS. This study evaluated ALS mortality rates in World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed and non-WTC-exposed rescue/recovery workers. Fire department workers who were 18–70 years old on 11 September 2001 (9/11) were included in the study (N = 33,122). Follow-up began on the later of 9/11 or on their hire date, and ended at the earliest death date or 31 December 2023. Cause of death data were obtained from the National Death Index; ALS (specifically motor neuron disease)-related mortality was the primary outcome. Demographic data were obtained from the fire departments’ databases. We estimated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% CIs for ALS-related mortality in WTC-exposed and non-WTC-exposed workers using US population rates as a reference. Multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models estimated relative rates (RRs) and 95% CIs for ALS-related mortality in the WTC-exposed vs. non-WTC-exposed groups. Between 9/11 and 31 December 2023, five WTC-exposed and sixteen non-WTC-exposed participants died of ALS. ALS mortality rates were lower in WTC-exposed than in non-WTC-exposed rescue/recovery workers (RR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.49–0.60). ALS-related mortality was not elevated in WTC-exposed (SMR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.14–1.03) or non-WTC-exposed rescue/recovery workers (SMR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.60–1.72) compared with the US general population. This initial evaluation of ALS in WTC-exposed workers indicates that the risk of ALS death is not increased in this population. Full article

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major occupational health concern, especially for women in physically demanding jobs. Despite efforts to standardize risk assessment in occupational medicine, the lack of homogeneous criteria limits the comparability and applicability of the findings, particularly concerning gender-specific risks. A systematic review was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, following PRISMA guidelines. The review included primary studies in English or Italian that applied standardized criteria to assess MSDs among working women. The search strategy was built using the PICO framework, focusing on uniform assessment methods for MSDs in occupational contexts. Out of 416 initially retrieved records, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies, conducted in North America, Europe, and Asia, applied diverse yet standardized tools such as the ISO 2631, INRS/Saltsa guidelines, ergonomic assessments, and functional capacity evaluations. Female representation ranged from 12% to over 80%, highlighting the underrepresentation of women in some studies. All studies incorporated criteria to ensure population or exposure homogeneity. Although standardized methods are increasingly being used in MSD research, only a few studies integrate a gender-sensitive approach. This review underscores the need for personalized occupational health models that consider sex and gender differences, promoting equitable and effective fit-to-work assessments. Full article

Indoor exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), particularly those bound to fine particulate matter (PM₁, particles < 1 µm), may pose a health concern, especially in light of prolonged indoor occupancy and the capacity of ultrafine particles to reach the lower respiratory tract. This study investigates indoor exposure to PBDEs associated with PM₁ in residential homes in Zagreb, Croatia, across warm and cold seasons. BDE-47 was consistently detected in all samples, while BDE-183 was consistently absent. Elevated concentrations and increased detection frequencies of BDE-99 and BDE-100 were observed during the colder season. Consequently, total PBDE (ΣPBDE) levels in the cold season were approximately 2.5 times higher than in the warm season. Although estimated daily inhalation intakes were below established oral reference doses, the potential for deep pulmonary deposition and systemic distribution underscores the need for further investigation. These findings represent the first reported data on indoor PM₁-associated PBDEs in Europe, emphasizing the impact of seasonal dynamics on inhalation exposure due to variation on indoor contaminant levels. Full article

This study investigates the determinants of household borrowing choices in Thailand, with a focus on the risks associated with formal and informal credit markets. Using cross-sectional survey data from 6949 respondents across 77 provinces collected in September 2021, we employ multinomial regression models to analyze how demographic, occupational, and income factors shape debt outcomes. The results indicate that younger and lower-income individuals in Bangkok are more likely to remain debt-free, while older, higher-income, and farming households are strongly associated with formal borrowing. In contrast, unemployed individuals, retirees, business owners, and freelancers disproportionately rely on informal credit channels, exposing them to high interest rates, repayment difficulties, and heightened financial risk. Regional disparities further underscore structural inequalities: households in the north and northeast are more likely to access formal finance, whereas those in Bangkok and the south tend to turn to informal lenders. These findings highlight the risks of financial exclusion and the persistence of informal lending in emerging economies. Policy measures that expand access to regulated credit, promote microfinance, and strengthen consumer protection frameworks are essential to mitigate household financial vulnerability and reduce exposure to debt traps. Full article

Occupational exposure to soil-borne pesticides remains a critical safety and process-management challenge in industrial and agro-industrial settings. This work proposes a process-integrated analytical workflow that couples comparative instrumental identification of soil xenobiotics with an occupational risk assessment framework. We comparatively evaluate GC-MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry), HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography), FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), LC-MS/MS (Liquid Chromatography coupled with tandem Mass Spectrometry), and ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) against matrix complexity, sensitivity, cost, and throughput, and implement the Quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe (QuEChERS) method-based sample preparation followed by GC-MS and LC-MS/MS to demonstrate applicability on representative soil and food-chain samples. Complementary risk tools (toxicity–probability matrices, exposure pathway diagrams) and an integrated monitoring scheme that combines environmental data with biomonitoring are used to link concentrations to exposure potential and control priorities. In a soil case sample, low-level organochlorines were detected with total DDT at 0.010 mg/kg and total HCH at 0.003 mg/kg, illustrating how analytical outputs feed decision matrices for prioritizing interventions. Case analyses from agricultural and industrial contexts indicate that targeted substitution, optimized application, ventilation and dust control, PPE (personal protective equipment) adherence, and worker training can measurably reduce symptoms and biomarkers of exposure. Overall, a complementary, process-analytical approach—integrating sensitive multi-technique detection with exposure assessment and continuous monitoring—supports proactive risk management and aligns with process systems and monitoring themes. Recommendations include standardizing workflows, coupling routine environmental monitoring with biomonitoring where feasible, and embedding preventive policies and training into industrial management systems. Full article

The widespread production and application of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have created a global environmental and public health crisis. This review aimed to consolidate the foundational knowledge on PFASs by synthesizing research on their environmental fate, human health impact, analytical methods, and regulatory status and by highlighting their critical challenges. A comprehensive literature search focusing on publications from the last five years (2020–2025) was conducted using global scientific databases (e.g., PubMed, Web of Science) and regulatory reports (e.g., EPA, ECHA). The persistent and pervasive nature of PFASs stems from the highly stable carbon–fluorine (C-F) bond, leading to their widespread release from diverse industrial and consumer products into water, soil, and air. Key outcomes reveal significant analytical challenges in their detection, including sample matrix complexity, widespread laboratory contamination, and a lack of standards for the vast number of specific compounds. Critical research gaps were identified, particularly the limited data on PFAS concentrations in air and dust, the need for standardized analytical methods and reporting units, and the urgent necessity for developing scalable, sustainable remediation strategies. The ongoing environmental contamination and associated health risks necessitate continued, focused interdisciplinary research to improve detection, risk assessment, and the effective management of this complex class of pollutants. Full article

A tiered approach is presented for evaluating occupational risks during liquid deposition modelling (LDM) using ceramic materials for manufacturing complex geometries in construction. The ceramic paste is comprised of kaolin/zeolite powders mixed with deionised water at a specific ratio. The tiered occupational risk analysis covered (i) the material evaluation and information gathering, (ii) on-site exposure measurements to ultrafine and micro-size particles, and (iii) morphological and toxicological analyses of raw and collected air samples. Results indicated an increase in PM4 (particle diameter < 4 μm) concentrations during powder preparation, reaching up to 1 mg/m³ during powder preparation, although below the corresponding substance-specific and general dust occupational exposure limit and with no increased exposure to ultrafine particles, as supported by morphological analysis. In toxicity assessment, reactive oxygen species production (ROS) reached approximately 300% for 50 μg/mL raw kaolin powder, while inducing high upregulation of TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA expression genes, indicating activation of pro-inflammatory pathways. Airborne samples resulted in cell viability reduction by ~50% at 40 μg/mL, showing significance (p-value < 0.001). Translating these findings to human risk remains difficult, yet the findings highlight an urgent requirement for continuous exposure surveillance, tailored toxicity evaluations, and robust protective strategies throughout ceramic manufacturing. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a major challenge for healthcare systems, particularly affecting healthcare workers (HCW) due to their higher occupational risk. A retrospective observational study was conducted using data from 239,188 diagnostic tests performed on HCW from the Castilla y León (Spain) Health Service between March 2020 and March 2022. The objective was to explore associations between categorical variables, such as geographic areas, job categories, and infection status, through Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering. The results revealed higher infection rates among HCW in regions near Madrid and in job categories with a greater care-related workload. These findings help identify risk factors and support the development of more effective occupational hazard prevention and health interventions to reduce infection risk and improve preventive measures. Full article

Tuberculosis continues to represent a major occupational risk in healthcare environments, particularly for healthcare workers who have persistent contact with patients who may be infectious. Despite the high occupational burden of tuberculosis among healthcare workers, there remains a lack of focused reviews that comprehensively evaluate preventive interventions across all levels of prevention within healthcare settings. In this literature review, effective preventive interventions relevant to tuberculosis transmission have been examined. Primary preventive interventions seek to diminish exposure through protective interventions such as respirators, improvements in ventilation systems, and implementation of educational programs regarding infection control protocols. Secondary preventive interventions target early diagnosis and routine screening with efforts to detect cases and latent infections early, before they progress to active disease. Enhancements in diagnostic technology have improved both the accuracy and speed of detection, further aiding the efforts of controlling nosocomial transmission. Tertiary preventive interventions target enhancing compliance with treatment protocols, managing complications of active infection, and controlling resistant strains through individualized follow-up and interventions. Barriers like stigma and lack of resources, however, often impede such interventions’ effectiveness in many cases. This narrative literature review highlights the imperative for strengthened workplace policies, an expansion of educational programs, and continued research in new and emerging interventions like new vaccine and diagnostics technology development. All these factors aim to optimize intervention effectiveness for tuberculosis and protect the health and welfare of workers in the medical field. Full article

Parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection during pregnancy represents a significant clinical concern due to its potential impact on the fetus and pregnancy outcome. We analyzed temporal, spatial, and seasonal B19V seroepidemiology in childbearing-aged and pregnant women in Croatia over 10 years (2015–2024). A total of 976 women who underwent routine TORCH screening were included. The overall B19V IgG and IgM seroprevalence was 63.7 and 8.7%, respectively, with significant temporal differences (IgG 36.8–72.3%, IgM 1.3–18.4). Significant differences in the IgG seropositivity were observed among age groups, from 42.3% in the 16–20 group to 72.7% in the 36–40 group. Spatial analysis showed no significant differences in the IgG or IgM seroprevalence between regions (City of Zagreb/Northern Croatia, Pannonian and Adriatic Croatia) and settlements (urban, suburban/rural). Additionally, seropositivity did not differ significantly in relation to obstetric history. In a logistic regression model, age was a significant predictor for IgG seroprevalence, with each additional year of age associated with increased odds of IgG seropositivity. Year, region, and settlement type were not significant predictors, indicating no evidence of temporal trends, regional differences, or differences between urban and rural settings after adjusting for age. Year of sampling, age, and region were significant predictors for IgM positivity. Acute infections were most common from March to July (61.2%) and December (9.4%), with regional variations in seasonal prevalence patterns. Given that screening in pregnancy is not routinely recommended, the high susceptibility to B19V observed in Croatia supports targeted serologic testing in women with clinical symptoms, known exposure, or occupational risk. Full article

Occupational exposure to airborne polymethacrylate (PMMA) particles during dental laboratory procedures poses an underexplored health risk. This study presents the first integrated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and real-time particle monitoring investigation of 0.5 µm PMMA particle dispersion during mechanical polishing in an actual clinic. We quantitatively assessed particle behavior in 30 s exposure scenarios by examining the effects of dental professional work orientations and comparing two mitigation strategies, rear-inlet portable air cleaners (PACs) and a Box Dust Collector (BC), with an emphasis on the safety of both personnel and patients. The findings establish that operatory airflow is a primary safety determinant: aligning the workflow with the main airflow (0°). Furthermore, the combined use of PACs and BC demonstrated synergistic superiority, achieving the optimal reduction in peak concentrations and airborne residence time. PACs alone reduced working zone concentrations by up to 80%, while BC provided a crucial 40–60 s delay in initial plume dispersion. We conclude that effective exposure control requires a proactive, two-stage engineering defense: source confinement augmented by continuous ambient filtration. This research provides a robust, evidence-based foundation for defining airflow-aware ergonomic and combined engineering standards in the evolving digital era of dentistry. Full article

The purpose of the study is to investigate human physiological responses to construction noise exposure using deep learning, applying electroencephalography (EEG) and electro-dermal activity (EDA) sensors. Construction noise is a pervasive occupational stressor that affects physiological states and impairs cognitive performance. EEG sensors capture neural activity related to perception and attention, and EDA reflects autonomic arousal and stress. In this study, twenty-five participants were exposed to impulsive noise from pile drivers and tonal noise from earth augers at three intensity levels (40, 60, and 80 dB), while EEG and EDA signals were recorded simultaneously. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) were utilized for EEG and long short-term memory networks (LSTM) for EDA. The results depict that EEG-based models consistently outperformed EDA-based models, establishing EEG as the dominant modality. In addition, decision-level fusion enhanced robustness across evaluation metrics by employing complementary information from EDA sensors. Ablation analyses presented that model performance was sensitive to design choices, with medium EEG windows (6 s), medium EDA windows (5–10 s), smaller batch sizes, and moderate weight decay yielding the most stable results. Further, retraining with ablation-informed hyperparameters confirmed that this configuration improved overall accuracy and maintained stable generalization across folds. The outcome of this study demonstrates the potential of deep learning to capture multimodal physiological responses when subjected to construction noise and emphasizes the critical role of modality-specific design and systematic hyperparameter optimization in achieving reliable annoyance detection. Full article

The agricultural sector remains one of the most hazardous working environments, with viticulture posing particularly high risks due to repetitive manual tasks, pesticide exposure, and machinery operation. This study explores the potential of vision-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to enhance occupational health and safety by evaluating their coherence with human expert assessments. A dataset of 203 annotated images, collected from 50 vineyards in Northern Italy, was analyzed across three domains: manual work activities, workplace environments, and agricultural machinery. Each image was independently assessed by safety professionals and an AI pipeline integrating convolutional neural networks, regulatory contextualization, and risk matrix evaluation. Agreement between AI and experts was quantified using weighted Cohen’s Kappa, achieving values of 0.94–0.96, with overall classification error rates below 14%. Errors were primarily false negatives in machinery images, reflecting visual complexity and operational variability. Statistical analyses, including McNemar and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, revealed no significant differences between AI and expert classifications. These findings suggest that AI can provide reliable, standardized risk detection while highlighting limitations such as reduced sensitivity in complex scenarios and the need for explainable models. Overall, integrating AI with complementary sensors and regulatory frameworks offers a credible path toward proactive, transparent, and preventive safety management in viticulture and potentially other high-risk agricultural sectors. Furthermore, vision-based AI systems inherently act as optical sensors capable of capturing and interpreting occupational risk conditions. Their integration with complementary sensor technologies—such as inertial, environmental, and proximity sensors—can enhance the precision and contextual awareness of automated safety assessments in viticulture. Full article