Hygienic integral assessment of the allergy hazard degree of the working conditions for employees exposed to organic aerosols

In the early 2000s, we substantiated the allergy hazard criteria of the working conditions for employees who  are in contact with chemical allergens (sensitizing ability degree, exposure intensity, and entry route into the body, combined nature of toxicant and allergen effects, combined exposure to harmful factors of physical nature) that were quantified separately and totally depending on their significance in the formation of professional allergic pathology. On this basis, an integral assessment scale of the allergy hazard degree of the working conditions in production and use of chemical allergens was developed. This shows 4 corresponding allergy hazard degrees of work (slight, moderate, high and extremely dangerous), probable levels of occupational health disorders in employees and the risk for developing occupational allergic pathology.

The aim of this work was a hygienic integral assessment of the degree of allergy hazard of employees working under the influence of industrial aerosols of biological nature using the approved approaches and the criteria previously developed for industrial chemical allergens.

The article proves the possibility of using the above criteria for hygienic integral assessment of the allergy hazard degree of work performed under the influence of organic aerosols. This is the result of Belarusian scientist-hygienists who developed and implemented the scientific concept and modern methodology of experimental hygienic regulation of the different-origin industrial organic dust content in the air of the working area according to the leading harmful allergic effect on the body of the protein-antigenic complex (PAC) of dust, including the original methods for obtaining soluble high-molecular PAC from dust samples, an objective assessment of the degree of their sensitizing ability and the class of allergy hazard.

The analysis of the results on the characteristics of the working conditions for different-profession employees exposed to industrial aerosols of different biological nature with the use of the criteria for quantitative assessment of the allergy hazard of industrial environment factors substantiates their assignment mainly to a high or moderate degree of allergy hazard. For employees working under these conditions, a significant frequency and a severity of shifts in the indicators of various immune system components and the development of mixed-type allergic reactions to protein-antigenic complexes of organic dust have been established, which determines the prevalence of health disorders of predominantly allergic nature, increasing with age. This confirms a potential risk of developing occupational allergic diseases (with a probability of up to 30 %) and an increase  in the production-related immune-dependent pathology level.

The use of the system of social and hygienic monitoring of integral assessment of the allergy hazard degree of working conditions for employees in different production fields exposed to industrial allergens and the identification of priority production factors in their formation allow a targeted and more efficient implementation of a set of technical and medical measures to prevent occupational allergic and production-related diseases.

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