[Medical examination of workers exposed to lead in the Philippines].

The medical examination of workers exposed to lead was conducted as part of the activity of the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) Project in the Philippines (JICA Project). The subjects of the medical examination were 21 male and 193 female workers of a semi-conductor plant (abbreviated A company), 59 male and 6 female workers of a refrigerator manufacture (B company); 199 male workers of a storage battery manufacturer (C company); and 107 male and 6 female workers of a lead smelter (D company). Among the examination items were questions regarding occupational history, subjective complaints and objective signs, determination of blood lead levels, urine delta aminolevulinic acid levels, and examination for anemia. The survey was conducted from June to September in 1990. The following results were obtained: 1) The mean age of the workers ranged from 21.8 to 33.8 years. Those of companies A and B were younger than those of companies C and D. The mean employment duration of males at C company was 10.7 yr, and the longest among the four companies. That in both sexes for A company was 1.8 yr and the shortest among the above mentioned companies. 2) The blood lead geometric mean levels of companies C and D showed the highest concentration. The level in males of C company was 64.5 micrograms/dl and that of D company was 80.8 micrograms/dl. The level in females of A company was 9.9 micrograms/dl and the lowest in concentration. The urine delta aminolevulinic acid geometric mean levels were less than 6.0 mg/l in the four companies. There was no company having hemoglobin mean values less than 14.0 g/dl in males or less than 12.0 g/dl in females. 3) The proportion of blood lead levels of 60 micrograms/dl or more was 67.3% in males of C company, and 89.7% in males and 16.7% in females of D company. The proportion of urine delta aminolevulinic acid levels of 6 mg/l or more was 1.0% in females of A company, 20.1% in males of C company, and 43.0% in males of D company. The proportion of hemoglobin values less than 14.0 g/dl in males or less than 12.0 g/dl in females was 4.7% in females of A company, 1.7% in males of B company, 3.5% in males of C company, and 12.1% in males of D company.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Urinary metabolite levels and symptoms in Filipino workers using organic solvents.

To compare symptoms with urinary metabolite levels, 900 workers from 7 organic solvent-using industries were studied. Urinary metabolites were determined using a high performance liquid chromatograph. Urinary hippuric acid concentrations exceeding the reference value (2.5 g/g creatinine) were found in 78 (8.7%) workers. However, only 3 (0.3%) and 1 (0.1%) of the participants exceeded the reference value for mandelic (0.8 g/g creatinine) and total methylhippuric acid (1.5 g/g creatinine), respectively. The sum of the values of the ratio of measured urinary metabolite concentration to the corresponding ACGIH's biological exposure indices (BEI) [(HA/BEI of HA + MHA/BEI of MHA + MA/BEI of MA)] exceeded 1.0 in 166 (18.4%) workers. Majority of them were from the footwear manufacturing industry (63/129 or 49.2%). Questionnaire interviews were also administered to determine the prevalence of symptoms while at work (acute symptoms) or within the past 6 months (chronic symptoms). Urinary metabolite levels of individual and mixed solvents were compared with the symptoms of all workers. Analysis using Spearman's rank correlation showed in workers whose urinary hippuric acid exceeded 3.75 g/g creatine (1.5 x BEI), significant correlation between their hippuric acid levels and subjective complaints. Workers whose sum of the values of the ratio of measured urinary metabolite concentration to corresponding BEI exceeded 1.5 were selected and comparing this level with their symptoms, significant correlation was also noted in some complaints.