PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Venugopal, Vidhya
AU  - PK, Latha
AU  - Shanmugam, Rekha
TI  - O-371 Occupational heat exposures and renal health implications – A cross-sectional study among commercial kitchen workers in South India
AID  - 10.1136/OEM-2021-EPI.57
DP  - 2021 Nov 01
TA  - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
PG  - A22--A22
VI  - 78
IP  - Suppl 1
4099  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/78/Suppl_1/A22.1.short
4100  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/78/Suppl_1/A22.1.full
SO  - Occup Environ Med2021 Nov 01; 78
AB  - Introduction Strenuous jobs in hot working environments, such as in commercial kitchens, are proven risk factors for adverse renal implications for workers working without adequate interventions. Evidence is scarce on the heat exposures and their impacts on commercial kitchen workers’ renal health.Objectives To investigate the renal health implications due to the workers’ exposures to heat stress and exertion in commercial kitchens.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among 266 workers in 7-commercial kitchens in the summer and winter of 2018. We monitored the Wet Bulb Globe Temperatures (WBGT), the physiological indicators of heat strain viz., rise in Core Body Temperature (CBT), Sweat Rate (SwR), and Urine specific gravity (USG) and analyzed the post-shift serum creatinine to calculate the estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). We administered a validated questionnaire to capture the workers’ self-reported renal health symptoms of heat stress.Results About 66% of workers were exposed to WBGTs levels higher than the safer Threshold Limit Value (TLV) with an average exposure of 30.1°C±2.7°C. Among the exposed workers, 82% reported experiencing heat strain symptoms such as excessive sweating, exhaustion, headache irrespective of the season. Above TLV-WBGT exposures were significantly associated with self-reported symptoms of dehydration (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR):2.3; 95% CI:1.2–4.3) and measured heat strain indicators (AOR: 2.9; 95% CI:1.6–5.1). Prevalence of heat strain indicators viz., rise in CBT (9.1%), SwR (17%), USG (75%), was observed among heat-exposed workers. Heat-exposed workers had a 2.8-fold higher risk of reduced kidney function (eGFR of < 9 0 mL/min/1.73 m2) even after adjusting for the potential confounders (AOR:2.8; 95% CI:1.1–6.9).Conclusion The preliminary study results show adverse renal impacts of heat exposures among commercial kitchen workers that warrant further investigation to arrive at conclusive results. A need for adaptation and interventions is imperative to protect few million kitchen workers from hazards of occupational heat stress.