Rafael Moure-Eraso

Analyses of the recycling potential of medical plastic wastes

This study analyzed the recycling potential of plastic wastes generated by health care facilities. For this study, we obtained waste streams and recycling data from five typical city hospitals and medical centers and three animal hospitals in Massachusetts. We analyzed the sources, disposal costs and plastic content of medical wastes, and also determined the components, sources, types and amounts of medical plastic wastes. We then evaluated the recycling potential of plastic wastes produced by general city hospital departments, such as cafeterias, operating rooms, laboratories, emergency rooms, ambulance service and facilities, and animal hospitals. Facilities, laboratories, operating rooms, and cafeterias were identified as major sources of plastic wastes generated by hospitals. It was determined that the recycling potential of plastics generated in hospital cafeterias was much greater than that in other departments. This was mainly due to a very slight chance of contamination or infection and simplification of purchasing plastic components. Finally, we discuss methods to increase the recycling of medical plastic wastes. This study suggests that a classification at waste generating sources, depending upon infection chance and/or plastic component, could be a method for the improved recycling of plastic wastes in hospitals.

A comparison of PMRs and SMRs as estimators of occupational mortality.

Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for occupational diseases are confounded by health differences between industrial and general populations. In 109 industrial cohorts largely free of work-related mortality, these selection effects were sizable for both malignant and nonmalignant outcomes. All-cancer SMRs were considerably less than 1.0 for many cohorts, and lung cancer was subject to almost as much selection-derived confounding as nonmalignant disease. Standardized proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) (approximated by relative SMRs (RSMRs)) were less confounded than SMRs in estimating occupational risk. PMRs appeared to overestimate cancer mortality on average by 6%, while SMRs underestimated by 13%. PMRs underestimated nonmalignant respiratory disease by 16 percent but SMRs underestimated by 39 percent. The sources of confounding, in addition to selection on health status at hire, most likely include social class. SMRs, in the absence of internal population comparisons, would fail to detect both malignant and nonmalignant work-related mortality in many industrial cohorts

Exposure Assessment for a Field Investigation of the Acute Respiratory Effects of Metalworking Fluids. I. Summary of Findings

The exposure assessment summarized here is part of an epidemiologic study of the acute respiratory health effects of metalworking fluid (MF) exposures. Exposures were measured as the inhalable concentrations of the MF aerosol, a variety of metals and elements, and endotoxin as well as the level of culturable bacteria in the aerosol size fraction less than 8 microns. Bulk samples of soluble MFs were tested for pH, mineral and tramp oil fraction, endotoxin, culturable bacteria, and lipopolysaccharide levels. The MF exposed workers had higher geometric mean inhalable aerosol exposures (0.181 mg/m3) than the MF unexposed workers (0.046 mg/m3). The MF exposed workers had higher geometric mean (GM) airborne culturable microbial counts (102 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 for bacteria < 8 microns) than the unexposed workers (GM = 14 CFU/m3). Among the unexposed, Bacillus was the predominant airborne species, while among the exposed workers, Pseudomonas predominated. Exposed workers also had higher geometric mean airborne endotoxin levels (GM = 7.1 endotoxin units (EU)/m3) than the unexposed workers (GM = 1.9 EU/m3). Elemental concentrations of iron, chlorine, and sulfur were substantially higher among the exposed workers compared to the unexposed workers. For soluble metalworking fluids, the levels of bulk constituents were examined by three categories of time since the machine sump was refilled with fresh MF (< 4 days, 4-21 days, > 21 days). Univariate analyses of percent oil, pH, culturable bacteria, tramp oil percent, endotoxin, or fatty acid levels all showed no statistically significant changes in level over time.

Prevention Strategies in Industrial Hygiene: A Critical Literature Review

Little is known of the extent of use of industrial hygiene prevention and control strategies in actual workplaces. The recent occupational safety and health literature was identified as a potential source for identifying which strategies are being utilized and evaluated as a means of controlling or preventing chemical hazards. Using preestablished selection criteria, the peer-reviewed industrial hygiene literature 1994-1999 was searched for articles describing prevention and control strategies for chemical hazards in actual workplaces. Ninety-two articles were found and categorized by the type of strategy discussed, whether strategies were implemented and evaluated, and by several other categories. Almost three-quarters discussed engineering control strategies, mostly local exhaust ventilation. Administrative strategies, including housekeeping, personal hygiene, and medical surveillance, appeared in about half the articles. Personal protective equipment was considered in one-third of the articles, and primary prevention strategies, such as material substitution, were considered in one-quarter. Intervention effectiveness was not consistently evaluated in these articles. In response to these findings, recommendations are made to improve the evaluation and promotion of effective prevention and control strategies.

Sustainable learning organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to debate how companies may better become a sustainable learning organization by offering the most used and insightful concepts of sustainability.Design/methodology/approach – Through literature review, learning organization and sustainability perspectives are explored and compared.Findings – Learning sustainability experiences around the world have provided tools and mechanics to companies to enhance economic growth without affecting environment and communities.Originality/value – The paper explains points of convergence and divergence between learning organization and sustainability approaches and provides insightful remarks from literature.

Occupational Hygiene Characterization of a Highway Construction Project: A Pilot Study

Abstract This pilot study is the application of a task-based sampling method used to characterize exposures on a highway construction project. The study developed methods to conduct occupational hygiene exposure assessment during building of a highway interchange. The sampling strategy was planned based on three sources of information: budgetary breakdown of the project, observations by an industrial hygienist, and interviews with the workers and the contractor at the site. This information permitted the partition of road construction work into three components: (1) stage, (2) operation, and (3) specific task. A method to develop a sampling plan was designed based on this analysis. The pilot study measured exposures to noise, dust, respirable silica, and asphalt fumes on 25 operating engineers and laborers working on the road construction project. Noise exposure measurements were made in three stages during three operations. Full-shift noise data were collected on operating engineers using different types...

Occupational Health among Latino Workers: A Needs Assessment and Recommended Interventions

Evidence suggests that Latino workers, along with other minority and low-income workers, face a higher risk for occupational disease than do other workers. Targeted surveillance and primary prevention interventions have been lacking or inadequate. The authors estimate the number of occupational disease deaths and new cases in Latino workers in the United States. Then, using data from New York City, they find that Latino workers are disproportionately employed in more hazardous occupations and under-represented in less hazardous jobs. They suggest a comprehensive approach to address workplace disease in Latino workers, which involves primary prevention interventions, clinical services, educational approaches, research and surveillance, unionization and organization of workers, and legislation and regulation.

Identifying pollution prevention opportunities in the Mexican auto refinishing industry

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the pollution prevention practices performed by workers in the Mexican auto refinishing industry as well as their implications on the occupational, safety and environmental health of workers and community.Design/methodology/approach – Interviewer‐administered questionnaires were conducted with shop owners, workers, and neighbors, and repeated site visits to collect information on occupational practices (personal protective equipment (PPE) in use, engineering controls, hazard communication, level of technology), environmental impact (chemicals usage, wastes amounts, disposal, supply chain, impact to the neighborhood), and possible symptoms of work‐related adverse health effects.Findings – The findings indicate that the Mexican auto body shop industry is not consistent with the accepted precepts of sustainability because it is not addressing the underlying topics of health, safety, and environment. When comparing working conditions between auto body worker...

A Survey of Environmental and Occupational Work Practices in the Automotive Refinishing Industry of a Developing Country : Sonora, Mexico

Abstract The automotive repair and refinishing industry has been studied intensively in industrialized countries, in part due to use of hazardous chemicals such as isocyanates and solvents, but little is known about industry practices in the developing world. The main objective of this paper was to investigate environmental and occupational work practices of this industry in a developing region, Sonora, Mexico. An integrated survey approach maximizes the opportunity for identifying risks as well as reducing risks. This investigation included detailed workplace visits to 41 body shops and 6 paint suppliers, as well as a survey of shop owners and 24 workers. Information was collected on work practices, level of technology in the shops, use of personal protective equipment, consumption and handling of hazardous chemicals and waste, hazard communication, and environmental consciousness. Most shops had little capital, outdated technology for exposure control, poor working conditions, high potential for exposure to hazardous chemicals, and little awareness of environmental and occupational health and safety. We concluded that work practices in the Sonoran auto refinishing industry are unsustainable and may pose a health risk to workers and the environment.

A Review of Employment Conditions as Social Determinants of Health Part II: The Workplace

This is the second part of an article on employment conditions as social determinants of health and health inequalities. In part I of this article, we explored structural (external) employment conditions that affect health inequalities and health gradients. In this article, we try to examine the internal aspects of employment conditions that affect the same variables. It is not our intention to “box” employment conditions in a rigid framework within an internal domain of person-hazard interaction. The objective of examining this variable is to scrutinize internal aspects of employment conditions at a comprehensive policy level in conjunction with external contextual variables. Major occupational health concerns are examined in relationship to globalization, child labor, and work in the formal and informal sectors. Interventions that can eliminate or greatly reduce these exposures as well as those that have been unsuccessful are reviewed. Innovative interventions including work organization change, cleaner production, control banding, national and international coalitions, participatory training, and participatory approaches to improving the work environment are reviewed.