DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Exposure Characteristics of Construction Painters to Organic Solvents

  • Park, Hyunhee (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Park, Hae Dong (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Jang, Jae-Kil (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency)
  • Received : 2015.05.12
  • Accepted : 2015.10.19
  • Published : 2016.03.30

Abstract

Background: Construction painters have not been studied well in terms of their hazards exposure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the exposure levels of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) for painters in the construction industry. Methods: Activity-specific personal air samplings were carried out in three waterproofing activities [polyurethane (PU), asphalt, and cement mortar] and three painting activities (epoxy, oil based, and water based) by using organic-vapor-monitor passive-sampling devices. Gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector could be used for identifying and quantifying individual organic chemicals. The levels of TVOCs, by summing up 15 targeted substances, were expressed in exposure-index (EI) values. Results: As arithmetic means in the order of concentration levels, the EIs of TVOCs in waterproofing works were 10.77, 2.42, 1.78, 1.68, 0.47, 0.07, and none detected (ND) for indoor PU-primer task, outdoor PU-primer task, outdoor PU-resin task, indoor PU-resin task, asphalt-primer task, asphalt-adhesive task, and cement-mortar task, respectively. The highest EI for painting works was 5.61 for indoor epoxyprimer task, followed by indoor epoxy-resin task (2.03), outdoor oil-based-spray-paint task (1.65), outdoor water-based-paint task (0.66), and indoor oil-based-paint task (0.15). Assuming that the operations were carried out continuously for 8 hours without breaks and by using the arithmetic means of EIs for each of the 12 tasks in this study, 58.3% (7 out of 12) exceeded the exposure limit of 100% (EI > 1.0), while 8.3% (1 out of 12) was in 50e100% of exposure limit (0.5 > EI > 1.0), and 4 tasks out of 12 were located in less than 50% of the limit range (EI < 0.5). Conclusion: From this study, we recognized that construction painters are exposed to various solvents, including carcinogens and reproductive toxins, and the levels of TVOC concentration in many of the painting tasks exceeded the exposure limits. Construction workers need to be protected from chemical agents during their painting works by using personal protective devices and/or work practice measures. Additional studies should focus on the exposure assessment of other hazards for construction workers, in order to identify high-risk tasks and to improve hazardous work environments.

Keywords

References

  1. Winder C, Turner PJ. Solvent exposure and related work practices amongst apprentice spray painters in automotive body repair workshops. Ann Occup Hyg 1992;36:385-94.
  2. Wolford R. Intervention research in construction: a hypothetical case study of painters. Am J Ind Med 1996;29:431-4. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199604)29:4<431::AID-AJIM32>3.0.CO;2-0
  3. White MC, Baker EL. Measurements of respiratory illness among construction painters. Br J Ind Med 1988;45:523-31.
  4. Kaukiainen A, Riala R, Martikainen R, Akila R, Reijula K, Sainio M. Solventrelated health effects among construction painters with decreasing exposure. Am J Ind Med 2004;46:627-36. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20107
  5. Fidler AT, Baker EL, Letz RE.Neurobehavioural effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents among construction painters. Br J Ind Med 1987;44:292-308.
  6. 3M Company. Technical data bulletin: Organic vapor monitor sampling and analysis guide,3Morganic vapormonitor 3500/3510 and3Morganic vapor 3520/3530. St paul (MN): 3M Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division; 2006.
  7. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Threshold limit values for chemical substances and physical agents & biological exposure indices. Cincinnati (OH): ACGIH; 2014.
  8. Choi JW, Mun JS, Won JI, Park HC. Health Hazardous Substances in Construction Work in Korea. J Korean Soc Occup Environ Hyg 2000;10:74-92.
  9. Riala R, Kalliokoski P, Pyy L, Wickstrom G. Solvent exposure in construction and maintenance painting. Scand J Work Environ Health 1984;10:263-6. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.2332
  10. Qian H, Fiedler N, Moore DF, Weisel CP. Occupational exposure to organic solvents during bridge painting. Ann Occup Hyg 2010;54:417-26.
  11. Wang SW, Qian H, Weisel C, Nwankwo C, Fiedler N. Development of solvent exposure index for construction painters. J Occup Environ Hyg 2011;8:375-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2011.583488
  12. Colton CE. Respiratory protection. In: Anna DH, editor. The occupational environment: its evaluation, control, and management. 3rd ed. Fairfax (VA): American Industrial Hygiene Association; 2011. p. 1255-83.

Cited by

  1. Trends in the processing and manufacture of solid oxide fuel cells : Trends in the processing and manufacture of SOFCs vol.6, pp.5, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.248
  2. Study of Hexane Adsorption on Activated Carbons with Differences in Their Surface Chemistry vol.23, pp.2, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23020476
  3. Safe use of chemicals by professional users and health care specialists vol.8, pp.2, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2018.1037
  4. The CHARGE study: an assessment of parental occupational exposures and autism spectrum disorder vol.76, pp.9, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2018-105395
  5. A case of acute organic solvent poisoning during epoxy coating vol.31, pp.1, 2016, https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2019.31.e9
  6. Enthalpic and Liquid-Phase Adsorption Study of Toluene-Cyclohexane and Toluene-Hexane Binary Systems on Modified Activated Carbons vol.26, pp.10, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26102839
  7. Health-related quality of life in Chinese workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis vol.6, pp.1, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-021-00209-z
  8. Respiratory health evaluation of construction workers using questionnaire vol.25, pp.4, 2016, https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0245-2021-25-4-313-320