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. 2022 Nov 16:10:1035065.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1035065. eCollection 2022.

Evaluation of strategies for the occupational health risk assessment of chemical toxicants in the workplace based on a quantitative analysis model

Qiuliang Xu  1 , Meibian Zhang  2 , Lingtong Xu  3 , Weiming Yuan  1 , Hong Ren  1 , Peng Wang  1 , Xincun Shao  4 , Zhen Zhou  1 , Hua Zou  1 , Yiyao Cao  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of strategies for the occupational health risk assessment of chemical toxicants in the workplace based on a quantitative analysis model

Qiuliang Xu et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: The commonly used methods for the occupational health risk assessment (OHRA) of chemical toxicants cannot fully meet the needs of practical work. This study evaluated OHRA strategies for chemical toxicants in the workplace by establishing a quantitative analysis model.

Methods: Five typical industries in China that implement OHRA using the six common models (the Environmental Protection Agency, Australian, Romanian, Singaporean, International Council on Mining and Metals, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health models) were selected as the research objects. We established a quantitative analysis model to compare the six models and applied it to compare the results obtained using each model and preliminarily analyze the advantages, limitations, and application scope of each method.

Results: The risk ratio (RR) values of the six methods decreased in the following order: RREPA > RRCOSHH > RRICMM > RRAustralia > RRSingaporean > RRRomanian (P < 0.05). Among the six models, the Singaporean model had the strongest RR correlation with the other models (P < 0.01). The sequence of RRs obtained from the Singaporean, ICMM, Australian, and Romanian models in the five industries was consistent with the sequence of the three inherent risk levels in those industries. Only the Romanian model could distinguish between the RRs of all five industries. The EPA and Singaporean models could effectively distinguish the differences in inherent risk for four hazard factors (manganese and inorganic compounds, benzene, xylene, and ethyl acetate), with the assessment accuracy being relatively higher for the EPA model.

Conclusions: Among the six models, the EPA model had the relatively highest accuracy in assessing chemical toxicants, followed by the Singaporean model. The EPA and Romanian models were strongest in differentiating the differences in toxicity risk. More studies on OHRA methodology are needed.

Keywords: chemical toxicants; methodology; occupational health; risk assessment; workplace.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author LX was employed by Zhejiang Tianlan Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd. Author XS was employed by Zhejiang Jidi Testing Technology Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Quantitative comparison of RRs obtained for the five industries using the six models [median (interquartile spacing)]. The orders of RRs obtained using the Singaporean, ICMM, Australian, and Romanian models in the five industries were consistent with the orders of the three inherent risk levels in those industries. Only the Romanian model could distinguished the RRs of the five industries.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Quantitative comparison of the RRs obtained for four hazard factors (manganese and inorganic compounds, benzene, xylene, and ethyl acetate) using the six methods [median (interquartile spacing)]. The IR order of the four hazard factors in the five industries was: IRmanganese > IRbenzene ≈ IRxylene > IRethylacetate. The EPA and Singaporean models effectively distinguished the inherent risks (IRs) among the four hazard factors using the RRs (P < 0.05). According to the EPA method, the RRs order of the four hazard factors was: RRmanganese > RRxylene > RRbenzene > RRethylacetate (P < 0.05), while that for the Singaporean method was: RRmanganese > RRbenzene > RRxylene > RRethylacetate (P < 0.05).
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