Reconstruction of occupational mercury exposures at a chloralkali plant
P L Williamsa, H Frumkinb, M L Pierced, C C Manningc, L Elonc, A G Sandersb
a Department of
Environmental Health Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA
30602-2102, USA, b Department
of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public
Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA, c Department of Biostatistics, d Glynn
County Health Department, Brunswick, GA 31520, USA
Correspondence to: Dr P Williams pwilliam{at}arches.uga.edu
Accepted 22 September
2000
OBJECTIVE
To
reconstruct historical workplace exposure to mercury (Hg) from 1956 to
1994 at a large chloralkali factory for use in a current epidemiology
study of the factory.
METHODSAll job
activities of the employees were classified into one of 16 exposure
categories, and the dates of changes in the processes were identified.
Exposures to Hg for each job category, at each period of the plant's
operation, were then reconstructed from several data sources. A
job-time period-exposure matrix was created, and the individual
exposures of former workers were calculated. Data on exposure to Hg in
air were compared with modelled concentrations of Hg in air and data on
urinary Hg of the employees.
RESULTSWithin an
exposure category, concentrations of Hg in air were fairly constant for
the first 20 years of the factory's operation, but began to increase
in the late 1970s. Employees working in the cell room had the greatest
exposures to Hg. The exposure estimates had significant correlations
(p<0.001) with the urinary data and were well within the modelled
range of concentrations of Hg in air.
CONCLUSIONSThe
highest exposures occurred from 1987 until the plant closed in early
1994 with some exposure categories having time weighted average
exposures to Hg greater than 140 µg/m3.
Keywords: mercury; chloralkali; occupational exposure; job exposure matrix
© 2001 by Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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