Comparison between exposure assessment methods for occupational exposures to specific solvents
| Original case-by-case expert assessment | Rule-based assessment | Agreement | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exposure | % exposed* | N | % exposed* | N | κ† (95% CI) |
| Benzene | |||||
| Job level | |||||
| Men | 3.3 | 156 | 2.7 | 194 | 0.60 (0.54 to 0.66) |
| Women | 0.7 | 41 | 0.7 | 45 | 0.63 (0.51 to 0.75) |
| Person level | |||||
| Men | 12.4 | 134 | 11.0 | 119 | 0.71 (0.64 to 0.78) |
| Women | 2.8 | 34 | 3.1 | 38 | 0.71 (0.59 to 0.83) |
| Other aromatic solvents | |||||
| Job level | |||||
| Men | 9.7 | 563 | 9.7 | 566 | 0.51 (0.47 to 0.55) |
| Women | 1.3 | 78 | 1.1 | 66 | 0.55 (0.45 to 0.65) |
| Person level | |||||
| Men | 28.3 | 305 | 26.6 | 287 | 0.57 (0.51 to 0.62) |
| Women | 4.3 | 53 | 4.1 | 50 | 0.67 (0.59 to 0.77) |
| Aliphatic solvents | |||||
| Job level | |||||
| Men | 19.9 | 1158 | 11.4 | 666 | 0.52 (0.49 to 0.55) |
| Women | 4.3 | 263 | 3.0 | 186 | 0.70 (0.65 to 0.75) |
| Person level | |||||
| Men | 46.5 | 501 | 29.4 | 317 | 0.58 (0.53 to 0.62) |
| Women | 11.0 | 135 | 7.4 | 91 | 0.71 (0.64 to 0.78) |
| Chlorinated solvents | |||||
| Job level | |||||
| Men | 1.6 | 94 | 1.3 | 76 | 0.26 (0.17 to 0.35) |
| Women | 0.2 | 10 | 0.4 | 25 | 0.46 (0.25 to 0.66) |
| Person level | |||||
| Men | 5.5 | 59 | 3.5 | 38 | 0.36 (0.24 to 0.49) |
| Women | 0.7 | 9 | 1.5 | 18 | 0.51 (0.28 to 0.74) |
*Percentage exposed by applying the respective exposure assessment method.
†κ statistic comparing the two exposure assessment methods.