[Biologic markers and occupational monitoring of human exposure to exhaust gases of diesel engines]. / Biomarkery i professional'noi monitoring vozdeistviia vykhlopnykh gazov dizel'nykh motorov na organizm.

The article presents results of studies covering changes in porphyrin and heme synthesis in lymphocytes of miners exposed to exhaust gases of diesel engines.

[Influence of various occupational factors on building workers]. / Vozdeistvie razlichnykh faktorov proizvodstvennoi sredy na stroitel'nykh rabochikh.

The authors obtained data demonstrating that peculiarities of each building object, wide variety of building operations at various stages of construction and constantly renewed technologies and construction materials complicate unequivocal evaluation of work conditions in building industry and require a system of occupational monitoring for health state among all construction industry occupations, in accordance with work conditions and length of service.

Particle-bound benzene from diesel engine exhaust.

OBJECTIVES: The large surface area of the carbon core of diesel exhaust particles may contribute to the adsorption or condensation of such volatile carcinogenic organic compounds as benzene. The attention of this study focused on determining the distribution of benzene between the gas and particulate phases in the breathing zone of bus garage workers. METHODS: Benzene and suspended particulate matter were evaluated jointly in the air of a municipal bus garage. Personal passive monitors were used for benzene sampling in the breathing zone of the workers. Active samplers were used for sampling diesel exhaust particles and the benzene associated with them. The benzene levels were measured by gas chromatography. RESULTS: Diesel engine exhaust from buses was the main source of air pollution caused by benzene and particles in this study. The concentration of benzene in the gas and particulate phases showed a wide range of variation, depending on the distance of the workplace from the operating diesel engine. Benzene present in the breathing zone of the workers was distributed between the gas and particulate phases. The amounts of benzene associated with particles were significantly lower in summer than in winter. CONCLUSIONS: The particulate matter of diesel exhaust contains benzene in amounts comparable to the concentrations of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the usually found nitro-PAH. The concentration of benzene in the gas phase and in the suspended particulate matter of air can serve as an additional indicator of exposure to diesel exhaust and its carcinogenicity.

[Study of the role of parents' occupation in children's mortality]. / Izuchenie roli professii roditelei v detskoi smertnosti.

This study have been carried out to: a) investigate the prevalence of such occupational factors in parents which could be fatal to their children, and b) evaluate quantitatively the risk of mortality in infants caused by some leading diseases developed as a result of harmful occupational factors to which their parents had been exposed. During this work the data bank on infant mortality in Tallinn based on deaths registration in city archive for period 1968-1992 has been created. This bank includes the data on parents' occupation. The prevalence of parents' occupational risk factors has been analyzed in infants who die due extreme immaturity and other prematurity cases, congenital anomalies neoplasias and control group persons. To evaluate the death risk in children the case-control epidemiological study with the individual group selection has been performed. This pilot analytical epidemiological study allows to suppose involving of possibly harmful occupational factors which are playing a certain role influencing mortality in whole contingent investigated, but not concerning individual nosologic forms. For the final judgement concerning the role of occupational risk factors the additional special fundamental study including the extended number of observations and the data, on interrupting nonoccupational risk factors prevalence should be carried out.