Original scientific paper
Health changes in workers exposed to increased concentration of arsenic compounds compared with a control group
G. Žarković
; Institut za higijenu i socijalnu medicinu, Sarajevo
F. Čerkez
; Institut za higijenu i socijalnu medicinu, Sarajevo
M. Levi
; Institut za higijenu i socijalnu medicinu, Sarajevo
Š. Čerimović
; Institut za higijenu i socijalnu medicinu, Sarajevo
O. Lazović
; Institut za higijenu i socijalnu medicinu, Sarajevo
Abstract
In the »Elcktrobosna« works in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the authors earlier identified arsenic in the working environment, 158 workers were examined for the symptoms of chronic arsenic poisoning. Health examinations consisted of medical and dermatological investigations. The findings were compared with those obtained in a control group, homologous by age and sex, from the gypsum factory at Volari, 20 km from Jajce. The total number of male workers examined in »Elelctrobosna« was 158 and in the gypsum factory at Volari 152. Their age distribution is presented un Table 1. The chemical analysis of urine, nails and hair for the traces of arsenic did not show differences. The analysis of air samples taken in one day in the vicinity of »Elektrobosna«, Jajce and the gypsum factory, Volari (Table 2) showed only a slight increase of AsH3 around »Elektrobosna«. This was to be expected since AsH3 occurs in the air on wet days in the course of ferrosilicium production. The differences .in medical findings between the exposed and control group of workers did not prove statistically significant, except for a much higher prevalence of laryngitis (2 = 7.82) in relation to the table value of 6.63, with P equaling 99. Anamnestic data show a much higher incidence of acute hepatitis (Table 4) among exposed workers. The greatest differences in findings between exposed and control workers were obtained by dermatological examinations (Table 5). Among exposed workers a significantly higher prevalence was found for melanoderma, hyperkeratosis, leukomelanoderma and the nail changes.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
170964
URI
Publication date:
9.12.1971.
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