Risk of kidney stone among workers exposed to high occupational heat stress - A case study from southern Indian steel industry.
Dehydration
Occupational heat stress
Physiological strain
Renal calculi
Steel industry
Journal
The Science of the total environment
ISSN: 1879-1026
Titre abrégé: Sci Total Environ
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 0330500
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
20 Jun 2020
20 Jun 2020
Historique:
received:
19
09
2019
revised:
27
02
2020
accepted:
27
02
2020
pubmed:
21
3
2020
medline:
27
6
2020
entrez:
21
3
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Predicted temperature rise is likely to increase the risks of development and progression of renal/urologic anomalies for workers engaged in physically exerting and high-heat occupations. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 340 steelworkers engaged in moderate to heavy labour with ≥3 year's heat exposures and assessed Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and heat-strain indicators. We captured self-reported heat-strain and kidney symptoms using validated questionnaires and subjected 91 workers to renal ultrasound upon referral of an occupational health specialist to detect and confirm any structural renal anomalies/stones. The results show that heat exposures (Avg.WBGT = 33.2 °C ± 3.8 °C) exceeded the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for 220 workers. 95% of the workers reported symptoms of heat strain and dehydration and significant associations between heat exposures, rise in Core Body Temperature (CBT) (p = 0.0001) and Urine Specific Gravity (USG) (p = 0.018) were observed. Of the 91 workers subjected to renal ultrasound, 33% were positive for kidney/ureteral stones (n = 25) & other structural renal anomalies (n = 5). Renal/urologic anomalies were higher in the heat-exposed workers (AOR = 2.374; 95% C.I = 0.927 to 6.077; p = 0.072) 29% of workers were from exposed group and 4% were from unexposed group. Years of exposure to heat (≥5 vs <5) were significantly associated with the risk of renal anomalies/calculi. The preliminary finding concludes that high-heat stress combined with a heavy workload and chronic dehydration are high-risk factors for adverse renal health and calls for the urgent need for cooling interventions, enhanced welfare facilities, and protective labour policies to avert adverse health consequences for few million workers in the climate change scenario.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Predicted temperature rise is likely to increase the risks of development and progression of renal/urologic anomalies for workers engaged in physically exerting and high-heat occupations.
METHODS
METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional study with 340 steelworkers engaged in moderate to heavy labour with ≥3 year's heat exposures and assessed Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and heat-strain indicators. We captured self-reported heat-strain and kidney symptoms using validated questionnaires and subjected 91 workers to renal ultrasound upon referral of an occupational health specialist to detect and confirm any structural renal anomalies/stones.
RESULTS
RESULTS
The results show that heat exposures (Avg.WBGT = 33.2 °C ± 3.8 °C) exceeded the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for 220 workers. 95% of the workers reported symptoms of heat strain and dehydration and significant associations between heat exposures, rise in Core Body Temperature (CBT) (p = 0.0001) and Urine Specific Gravity (USG) (p = 0.018) were observed. Of the 91 workers subjected to renal ultrasound, 33% were positive for kidney/ureteral stones (n = 25) & other structural renal anomalies (n = 5). Renal/urologic anomalies were higher in the heat-exposed workers (AOR = 2.374; 95% C.I = 0.927 to 6.077; p = 0.072) 29% of workers were from exposed group and 4% were from unexposed group. Years of exposure to heat (≥5 vs <5) were significantly associated with the risk of renal anomalies/calculi.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary finding concludes that high-heat stress combined with a heavy workload and chronic dehydration are high-risk factors for adverse renal health and calls for the urgent need for cooling interventions, enhanced welfare facilities, and protective labour policies to avert adverse health consequences for few million workers in the climate change scenario.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32197155
pii: S0048-9697(20)31130-X
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137619
pii:
doi:
Substances chimiques
Steel
12597-69-2
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
137619Commentaires et corrections
Type : CommentIn
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interest in the present study.