Exposició laboral a compostos orgànics i metalls en la planta incineradora de residus especials del Camp de Tarragona.
In recent years, incineration has demonstrated to be a commercially available technology for hazardous waste disposal. According to the assessments done to date, there appears to be little human risk from hazardous waste incinerator (HWI) emissions.<br/> The objective of this study was to dete...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2002 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | CBUC, CESCA |
| Repositorio: | TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/8699 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://www.tdx.cat/TDX-0626103-140003 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/8699 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | treballadors 00 61 |
| Sumario: | In recent years, incineration has demonstrated to be a commercially available technology for hazardous waste disposal. According to the assessments done to date, there appears to be little human risk from hazardous waste incinerator (HWI) emissions.<br/> The objective of this study was to determine and to compare blood and urine concentrations of a number of organic compounds in workers at a hazardous waste incinerator (HWI) of Tarragona, before one and two years after working in the plant, and to assess if the incinerator can be a risk for their health. Twenty-eight workers of the new HWI were selected to test internal exposure to organic substances. Twenty-two men and 6 women between 23 and 58 years, who had not been previously exposed to these substances, were included in the study. They were divided into three groups according to the workplace and task: group I, incinerator operators, boiler maintenance, control panel, furnace maintenance and waste gas washing operators; group II, laboratory workers, and group III, management and office workers.<br/><br/> In all samples, the concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethiylbenzene and m-xylene were under the respective detection limit (1 mg/L for benzene and 4 mg/L for the other compounds). The mean levels in plasma of the HWI workers during the three years of study (1999, 2000 and 2001) of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were 27.6, 16.9 and 10.0 ng I-TEQ/kg lipid, respectively (significant differences were found respect to 2001). The mean levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were 152, 115.4 and 181.7 mg/kg lipid, respectively. Respect to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB 28, 52, 101, 138, 153 and 180) the mean levels in the year 1999 were 18.5, 10.4, 9.0, 151, 213 and 209 mg/kg lipid, respectively. In the year 2000, were 2.2, 1.3, 2.0, 89.0, 125.4 and 121.7 mg/kg lipid. Finally, in 2001, the mean levels were 3.4, 1.5, 2.0, 74.0, 103.8 and 92.0 mg/kg lipid. <br/><br/> The urinary excretion of (CLPs) can be used as an indirect indicator of current exposure to PCDD/Fs, whereas the urinary levels of 1-HP were determined as an indicator of exposure to PAHs. The mean urinary levels during the three years of study of 2,4- dichlorophenol (DCPs) were 1.4, 4.4, 4.7 mg/g creatinine, respectively. For 2,5-dichlorophenol (DCPs), were 5.52, 110.1, 123.1 mg/g creatinine, respectively. For 2,4,5- trichlorophenol (TCPs) were 0.3, 0.6, 0.4 mg/g creatinine, and for 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCPs) were 0.3, 2.0, 0.9 mg/g creatinine, respectively. Finally, for pentaclorfenol (PCP) were 0.3, 1.8, 1.0 mg/g creatinine. Significant differences (p<0.05) were noted for 2,5-chlorophenol (DCPs) and pentachlorophenol (PCP). 1-HP could be only detected in few samples, the others samples were under the detection limit (0.1 µg/L). Although the present results showed a notable variability for the levels of chlorophenols, median values of these compounds were similar or even lower than those considered as potential reference values.<br/><br/> The blood levels of manganese were 12.5, 5.9 and 10.9 mg/L (1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively). Significant differences (p<0.01) were noted between the years 2000 and 2001. The mean levels of lead were 3.4, 3.5 and 3.0 mg/dL, respectively. The levels of mercury in 1999 and 2001, were under the detection limit, but in 2000 the mean level was 9.9 mg/L. <br/><br/>The urinary mean levels of arsenic, in the periode 1999-2001, were 54.8, 1.45 and 1.35 mg/g de creatinine, respectively. The levels of cadmium were 0.35, 0.40 and 0.21 mg/g de creatinine, respectively. Significant differences (p<0.01) were noted in 2001. Chromium levels were 0.14 and 0.30 mg/g de creatinine (1999 and 2000, respectively). In 2001, the levels were under the detection limit. Nickel mean levels during the three years of study were 11.6, 3.36 and 3.63 mg/g de creatinine, respectively. <br/><br/> On the other hand, the concentrations of beryllium and vanadium were under their detection limits in all samples (4 mg/l and 16.6 mg/L, respectively) during the three years of study.<br/><br/> According to the results of the current survey, one year of potential exposure to the organic and inorganic substances here analyzed would not mean any specific health problem for the workers at the HWI. Future surveys will be performed in order to detect potential health risks with time for these workers. |
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