• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.62-69
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• 2008

As the concerns of dermal exposure of spray painters to isocyanates in the automobile industry, glove performance was examined like permeation rate and breakthrough time including fatigue test. Methylene chloride was used as the solvent for derivatization of the isocyanates with a 97.5% recovery. Ghost wipe pads were used to wipe the surface of the glove material after chemical penetration through the glove material placed under a disposable test cell. Several solvents were tested, such as thinner(xylene, toluene) and cleaning agent(acetone) by using a standard permeation test cell(AS/NZS standard 2161. part 10.3). Solvents accelerate chemical permeation through the gloves more quickly than pure HDI hardener products. The longest breakthrough times were from Nitrosolve gloves, not detected in 8 hours, compared with others like Latex, Neoprene, TNT and Dermo Plus. Therefore Nitrosolve gloves could be recommended as personal protective equipment in crash repair shops. In addition, revised exposure limit of korean regulation should be suggested for employee to minimize the risk of health symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.79-86
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• 2008

In the manufacturing industries using HDI(hexamethylene diisocyanate) product hardeners, exposure to HDI is common to spray painters in terms of inhalation and dermal or ocular contact. Due to a lack of information for spray painters in automobile and furniture industries, a questionnaire survey was conducted for the prevalence of adverse health symptoms(33 spray painters and an unexposed group n = 91) to assess the importance of personal controls. Despite the small sample size, common health symptoms were reported, such as skin symptoms(dry cracked skin-61% and dermatitis/skin irritation-33%) and respiratory symptoms(phlegm-49%, asthma-21%). In addition, other adverse health symptoms were reported, such as skin rash(12%), cough(39%), shortness of breath with wheezing(30%), chest tightness and difficulty in breathing(30%). No significant eye symptoms were reported. It was founded that the adverse health symptoms reported in this study were related to poor personal work practices and inappropriate PPE use. Therefore, appropriate personal controls like PPE use, work practices, regular training and education are suggested to minimize the risk of health symptoms. In addition, medical examination will also be suggested for individual health effects.