In this issue of Occupational Medicine
Honorary Editor
In this issue, our In-Depth Review considers the latest research and thinking about the workplace's contribution to causing cancer. Lesley Rushton and colleagues [1] review the overall workplace contribution to cancer rates, cancer due to silica and ultraviolet radiation, and consider reducing occupational exposures to chemical carcinogens, focusing specifically on diesel exhaust particulate and paint emissions. The ongoing burden of work-related cancer is significant even without the historical contribution. It is also eminently preventable and the review concludes that whilst there are no real technical difficulties in controlling exposures to chemical carcinogens, the attitudes of employees and employers to the potential risks need to change if long-term reductions are to be achieved.
Two papers in this issue consider exposure to blood and body fluids in healthcare workers. Using the Exposure Prevention Information Network (EPINet), Naghavi and Sanati [2] examined 175 cases of exposure from four UK teaching hospitals over a 3 year period. Junior doctors were three times more likely than senior doctors to be exposed with one junior doctor in 25 receiving an exposure each year. Over 40% of junior doctor exposures were related to taking blood whereas in senior doctors over 40% of exposures were related to suturing. Interestingly, most incidents were reported during normal daytime working hours. The authors suggest that junior doctors may need particular attention in prevention strategies.
Garcia and Facchini [3] carried out a cross-sectional study of more than a thousand primary healthcare workers in Brazil. The cumulative prevalence of blood and body fluid exposures in the 12 months preceding the interview was 7%. Working as a dentist, dental assistant or nurse assistant was associated with a high rate of exposure with almost one in two dentists reporting an exposure in the preceding year. Certain workplace factors, a history of previous occupational accidents and smoking status were also associated with blood and body fluid exposures. Together the two papers indicate that this remains a workplace hazard with high risk throughout most aspects of healthcare.
Elsewhere in this issue we have an interesting case report on the impact of different brands of cigarettes on blood cadmium levels [4]. Cadmium-exposed workers who smoke are known to have higher blood cadmium levels than non-smokers. Martin and colleagues describe the case of a paint technician who was found to have an elevated blood cadmium through routine biological monitoring. Removal from exposure failed to bring about any reduction and it was only when it was discovered that he had changed his brand of cigarettes (and then changed back again) that his blood cadmium fell to its previously satisfactory level. The authors advise occupational health professionals to ask about the brand of cigarette smoked and emphasize the importance of smoking cessation in cadmium-exposed workers.
We also have three short reports: a prospective study of ocular injuries attending an accident and emergency department to determine the proportion that were work related and their severity [5]; a study of job attitudes amongst Finnish anaesthetists which found a surprisingly high proportion considering changing not just their speciality but their profession [6]; and a report on the feasibility of measuring acetylcholinesterase levels in saliva in organophosphate-exposed workers [7]. If that isn't enough, then Mike McKiernan [9] comments on a wonderful painting by Claude Monet [8], Peter Baxter considers a book on disasters, Yoshika Suzaki and Hiromi Ariyoshi [10] tell us about occupational medicine in Japan, Roy Kemble [11] tells us why he became an occupational physician, Mike Drayton [12] reviews the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory questionnaire and Anthony Seaton [13] considers whether global wants ever gets.
Finally, we are pleased (and very proud) to announce that the winner of the 2008 ESSO prize was Philip Wynn and Allan Low for their paper ‘The effect of social deprivation on local authority sickness absence rates’ (Occup Med (Lond) 58(4):263–267). The paper can be accessed for free on the Occupational Medicine website.
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 Top References |
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- Rushton L. Workplace and cancer: interactions and updates. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:78–81.
- Naghavi SHR, Sanati KA. Accidental blood and body fluid exposure among doctors. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:101–106.
- Garcia LP, Facchini LA. Exposures to blood and body fluids in Brazilian primary health care. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:107–113.
- Martin CJ, Antonini JM, Doney BC. A case report of elevated blood cadmium. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:130–132.
- Thompson GJ, Mollan SP. Occupational eye injuries: a continuing problem. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:123–125.
- Lindfors PM, Meretoja OA, Luukkonen RA, Elovainio MJ, Leino TJ. Attitudes to job turnover among Finnish anaesthetists. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:126–129.
- Ng V, Koh D, Wee A, Chia S-E. Salivary acetylcholinesterase as a biomarker for organophosphate exposure. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:120–122.
- McKiernan M. Claude Monet, Les charbonniers also called Les déchargeurs de charbon [The Coalmen, also called Men Unloading Coal] c. 1875. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:76–77.
- Baxter PJ. Disasters: A Wander Down Memory Lane. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:134.
- Suzaki Y, Ariyoshi H. Occupational Medicine in Japan. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:133.
- Kemble R. Why I became an occupational physician. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:136.
- Drayton M. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:135–136.
- Seaton A. I want never gets. Occup Med (Lond) (2009) 59:132.
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Related articles in Occupational Medicine:
- The effect of social deprivation on local authority sickness absence rates
- P. Wynn and A. Low
Occupational Medicine 2008 58: 263-267.[Abstract] [FREE Full Text]
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