Why was this worksite chosen by NIOSH to study? In 1988, the union representing workers at the plant asked NIOSH to look into what appeared to be a cluster of bladder cancer cases. A cancer cluster is the occurrence of a greater than expected number of cancer cases in a group of people in a certain area over a period of time. A cancer cluster may be suspected when people report that several fam...

A little over a year ago NIOSH published a document titled, “Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities due to Heart Attacks and Other Sudden Cardiovascular Events.” The document presented the “lessons learned” from over 175 on-duty fire fighter fatalities due to sudden cardiac death. Specifically, the document described the magnitude of the problem, provided some background on the personal and occupat...

ield tests were conducted to measure the effects of high concentrations of cement dust on the penetration and pressure drop of N95 electret respirator filters from two manufacturers. Three groups of each manufacturer’s filter were tested: 1) untreated; 2) irradiated with ionizing radiation; 3) dipped in isopropanol for 15 seconds. The purpose of the irradiation and isopropanol treatments was to...

Indium use has increased greatly in the past decade in parallel with the growth of flat-panel displays, touchscreens, optoelectronic devices, and photovoltaic cells. Much of this growth has been in the use of indium tin oxide (ITO). This increased use has resulted in more frequent and intense exposure of workers to indium. Starting with case reports and followed by epidemiological studies, expo...

background: manual material handling is one of the major health and safety hazards in industry. this study aims to assess the lifting tasks, before and after intervention using niosh lifting equation and manual handling assessment charts (mac). methods: this interventional study was performed in 2011 in a tile manufacturing industry in hamadan, located in the west of iran. the prevalence of mus...

OBJECTIVES To reanalyze in a similar manner the two principal studies of TCDD (tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) and diabetes in an attempt to reconcile disparate results. METHODS Data from 990 United States Air Force veterans (Ranch Hand) and 1275 referents were reanalyzed, and a NIOSH population of 267 chemical workers and 227 referents. The Ranch Hand veterans had lower concentrations of lipid ...

his study was done to assess performance of four Class 95 respirator filters exposed to diesel engine exhaust. NIOSH-certified electret filters from two manufacturers were used. N95 filters from each manufacturer were tested. P95 and R95 filters from Manufacturer X and Y, respectively, were also tested. Only R and P series filters are typically recommended for diesel exposures. Prior to diesel ...

background: manual load lifting is the most common and stressful activity that imposes high biomechanical pressures on the body, particularly on the back. diverse studies have shown that load lifting can cause work-related musculoskeletal disorders among workers. this study was conducted to assess manual lifting activity using niosh equation and wisha index and compare the results of the two me...

In March 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was asked to evaluate the noise exposure of employees in the Nutrition and Food Services Department of a large hospital, because of noise concerns raised after the installation of the PowerSoak dishwashing system. Eleven employees (two cooks, eight food service workers, and a materials handler) contributed 13 full-...