Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers.
Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers.
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DOI：
10.3390/ijerph13010140
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发表时间：
2016-01-19
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Neitzel RL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Burns KN;Sun K;Fobil JN;Neitzel RL
电子废物是地球仪日益严重的职业和环境健康问题。电子废物回收是一个重要的绿色产业，特别是在低收入和中等收入国家，在这些国家，电子废物的回收工作大部分是在这些国家进行的，许多人的生计依赖于这项工作。电子废物回收的职业健康危害尚未得到充分探讨。我们在加纳阿克拉的一个大型电子垃圾场对电子垃圾回收工人的噪音暴露、心率和感知压力进行了一项横断面研究。我们采访了57名工人，并连续监测他们的个人噪声暴露和心率长达24小时。超过40%的工人的噪声暴露超过推荐的职业（85 dBA）和社区（70 dBA）噪声暴露限值，自我报告的听力困难很常见。通过科恩的感知压力量表（Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale）测量，工人们也有中度到高度的感知压力，并报告了可能表明心血管疾病的各种症状。噪声暴露与心率中度显著相关（斯皮尔曼ρ 0.46，p < 0.001）。混合效应线性回归模型表明，噪声暴露增加1 dB与心率增加0.17相关（p值= 0.01），即使在控制工作活动，年龄，吸烟，感知压力和不利的物理工作条件。这些研究结果表明，职业和非职业性噪声暴露与平均心率升高有关，这反过来可能预示着潜在的心血管损伤。
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing occupational and environmental health issue around the globe. E-waste recycling is a green industry of emerging importance, especially in low-and middle-income countries where much of this recycling work is performed, and where many people’s livelihoods depend on this work. The occupational health hazards of e-waste recycling have not been adequately explored. We performed a cross-sectional study of noise exposures, heart rate, and perceived stress among e-waste recycling workers at a large e-waste site in Accra, Ghana. We interviewed 57 workers and continuously monitored their individual noise exposures and heart rates for up to 24 h. More than 40% of workers had noise exposures that exceeded recommended occupational (85 dBA) and community (70 dBA) noise exposure limits, and self-reported hearing difficulties were common. Workers also had moderate to high levels of perceived stress as measured via Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, and reported a variety of symptoms that could indicate cardiovascular disease. Noise exposures were moderately and significantly correlated with heart rate (Spearman’s ρ 0.46, p < 0.001). A mixed effects linear regression model indicated that a 1 dB increase in noise exposure was associated with a 0.17 increase in heart rate (p-value = 0.01) even after controlling for work activities, age, smoking, perceived stress, and unfavorable physical working conditions. These findings suggest that occupational and non-occupational noise exposure is associated with elevations in average heart rate, which may in turn predict potential cardiovascular damage.