Exposure to Organic Solvents Among Car Painters in Bergen, Norway

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1 PII: S (99) Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 185±189, British Occupational Hygiene Society Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain. 0003±4878/00/$20.00 Exposure to Organic Solvents Among Car Painters in Bergen, Norway BENTE E. MOEN* and BJéRG ELI HOLLUND Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Ulriksdal 8c, N-5009, Bergen, Norway Car painters are exposed to organic solvents during their work. Several sets of o cial regulations have therefore been adopted in Norway in recent years to reduce the exposure. This study evaluated some of the e ects of these regulations, by measuring the levels of exposure to organic solvents in six car-painting garages and relating them to the limit values in Norway. Both stationary and personal monitoring were performed. In addition, the occurrence of acute symptoms in the nervous system, skin and upper airways, the use of personal protective equipment and the workers' satisfaction with the ventilation were determined using the results of a questionnaire survey among the car painters from 11 car-painting garages (N = 28). A control group of unexposed workers (N = 18) was used for comparison. All air samples showed low levels of exposure, far below the limit values. The highest levels were found for toluene; about half the limit value in two garages (11.5 and 12.5 ppm). No signi cant di erence was found between the exposed and unexposed workers in the frequency of acute symptoms. Most workers reported to always use gloves, overalls and respiratory protective equipment during the car painting. The study indicates that the exposure to organic solvents is low in the examined car-painting garages, and the risk of adverse health e ects related to organic solvents is probably low in these workplaces British Occupational Hygiene Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: car painters; organic solvents; painters; solvents INTRODUCTION The health e ects of organic solvents have been known for more than a century, as described by Winslow (1927). At low or moderate concentrations, the organic solvents may cause transient symptoms such as euphoria, headache and dizziness. At high concentrations, anaesthesia and disturbances in respiration and circulation may occur and may lead to death. These e ects are known from occupational exposure (Laine and RiihimaÈ ki, 1986) and from organic solvent abuse (Ron, 1986). In addition to these acute e ects, organic solvents are known to cause adverse e ects in the nervous system after long-term exposure. WHO accepted the occurrence of a chronic organic solvent intoxication syndrome in 1985 (WHO Regional O ce for Received 16 April 1999; in nal form 18 August *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: ; Fax: ; bente.moen@isf.uib.no Europe, 1985), and Juntunen (1986) described the syndrome thoroughly. The syndrome typically develops gradually after exposure to organic solvents daily for many years. The syndrome may occur in several occupations where the workers are exposed to organic solvents. One occupation in which high exposure to organic solvents has been described is car painting (Kalliokoski, 1986). In Norway, o cial legislation concerning the working environment of garages performing car painting was developed in 1978 and extensively revised and expanded in 1989 (Directorate of Labour Inspection, 1978, 1989), to reduce the exposure levels of organic solvents and the occurrence of health e ects related to this type of occupational exposure. In addition, Norway's limit values for exposure to organic solvents have been lowered in recent years. It is therefore of interest to evaluate the exposure levels of organic solvents among car painters in Norway today. In addition, the occurrence of acute health e ects during the work is of interest in evaluating their 185

2 186 B. E. Moen and B. E. Hollund Table 1. Occurrence of acute symptoms during the past month among car painters and a reference group. Number of persons are given, and percentage in brackets Symptoms Car painters (N = 28) Reference group (N = 18) Never 1±2 times per month 3±5 times per month > 5 times per month Never 1±2 times per month 3±5 times per month > 5 times per month Headache 13 (47) 9 (33) 3 (10) 3 (10) 12 (68) 5 (27) 1 (5) 0 Vertigo 18 (65) 7 (25) 3 (10) 0 14 (78) 3 (17) 0 1 (5) Nausea 23 (82) 5 (18) (83) 3 (17) 0 0 Euphoria 26 (92) 1 (4) 1 (4) 0 17 (95) 1 (5) 0 0 Eye irritation 15 (54) 8 (29) 2 (7) 3 (10) 14 (78) 3 (17) 0 1 (5) Throat irritation 18 (65) 7 (25) 0 3 (10) 9 (50) 6 (33) 0 3 (17) Skin irritation 19 (68) 6 (21) 2 (7) 1 (4) 15 (83) 2 (12) 1 (5) 0 present working environment. The occurrence of such symptoms is a subjective indicator of the exposure levels of organic solvents. The aim of this study was to obtain data concerning exposure and acute symptoms, to evaluate the need for further improving the working environment among car painters. MATERIALS AND METHODS All car-painting garages in the central part of Bergen, Norway were contacted and asked to participate in the study. Questionnaire All car painters employed in the garages were asked to answer a questionnaire which included questions about age, use of gloves, use of overalls, use of personal respiratory protective equipment during painting work and their opinion of the ventilation at the site of car painting. The use of personal protective equipment was described by the use of a four-point scale where 0=never and 3=always. The workers' opinions about the ventilation systems were obtained by using a three-point scale: seldom satis ed, satis ed some of the time and satis ed most of the time. In addition, the car painters answered questions about the occurrence of acute symptoms during the past month in the central nervous system, including headaches, dizziness and euphoria; sore eyes; soreness and itching in the nose and the throat; and skin rash. The occurrence of symptoms was obtained by using a four-point scale, where 0=never and 3=more than ve times per month (Table 1). Administrative personnel from the same garages who were not exposed to organic solvents were chosen as a reference group. They worked in o ces with a di erent ventilation system than the garage itself, and did not enter the garages during the day. They answered a questionnaire similar to the one for the car painters, except that they were not asked about the use of personal protective equipment. The researchers handed out the questionnaire at the workplace. It was anonymous, and the worker lled it out alone, without any disturbance from the employer or his colleagues. Occupational monitoring As our resources were limited, only half of the garages included in the study were chosen for monitoring of organic solvents. The researchers had no prior knowledge of the exposure and chose the garages at random. Stationary monitoring of airborne pollution was performed in at least two positions, where the paints were mixed in the car-painting garage. This

3 Exposure to organic solvents among car painters 187 is a place where the exposure to organic solvents is expected to be higher than in the rest of the garage, apart from inside the painting booths. The workers did not use personal protective equipment during the mixing process or during other work in the garage except the painting itself, so measuring the exposure levels here would give some indication of the maximum exposure during work outside the painting booths. The sampling period for the stationary monitoring was as close as possible to a working day. Some of the sampling periods were short, because the painters left the garage to perform other types of work, with no chemical exposure. In addition, the car painters were personally monitored during lacquering work. The sampling period varied, according to how long each car-painting job lasted. The number and size of jobs varied from garage to garage, but all jobs performed during 1 day were monitored. The sampling equipment was worn inside the personal respiratory protective equipment during the carpainting process. This was done to nd the actual exposure of the workers. They did not work inside the painting booths without wearing personal protective equipment. The sampling was performed for 2±3 days in each garage. The organic solvents were adsorbed on activated charcoal. Charcoal tubes of the type SKC were used and low- ow pumps of the following types: Casella SP15, Casella CS1 and SKC The ow rate of the pumps was 100 ml per min. In the laboratory, the organic solvents were desorbed and analysed by gas chromatography (Perkin Elmer, Auto System 10% FFAP on 80/100 Chromosorb WAW, temperature 708C, ow 24 ml per min), and the detection limit was 0.01 ppm. The laboratory used for the analyses had extensive experience in performing these investigations and participated in national intercalibration laboratory tests. RESULTS Questionnaire Eleven of the 12 garages asked to join the study agreed to participate. All the car painters (N = 28) and administrative personnel (N = 18) in the 11 garages completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the car painters was 33 years, and the mean age of the reference group was 37 years (Student's t-test, p = 0.1). All the car painters used overalls during their work. Nobody used full-face masks that covered the eyes, as they claimed that this type of equipment reduced vision and was troublesome during their work. Twenty-seven of the 28 car painters surveyed claimed that they always used a half mask during the car-painting work. Twenty-one used an air line continuous ow half mask and Table 2. Results from air monitoring in six car painting garages. Mean values are given in ppm for each component measured in each garage, both for personal monitoring and stationary monitoring, as well as the mean values for the total number of measurements. The Norwegian limit values from 1995 are shown in the table Acetone Ethylacetate Isopropanol Ethanol Isobutyl-acetate Butyl-acetate Toluene Ethyl-benzene Xylenes Styrene Aliphatics C4±C7 Aliphatics C7±C12 Aromates C9±C12 Garage Type of monitoring Monitoring period (min) A Personal (N = 3) 71± ± A Stationary (N = 3) 196± ± 0.2 ± B Personal (N = 6) 48±282 ± ± ± ± ± ± ± B Stationary (N = 5) 363±416 ± ± ± ± ± ± 0.2 ± C Personal (N = 6) 27±82 ± ± 0.5 ± ± C Stationary (N = 4) 215±385 ± ± D Personal (N = 6) 16±52 ± ± ± ± ± ± 0.4 ± ± D Stationary (N = 3) 292± ± ± ± ± 0.2 ± 0.1 E Personal (N = 4) 34±93 ± 0.5 ± ± ± ± ± E Stationary (N = 6) 301± ± ± F Personal (N = 5) 34± ± ± ± ± ± F Stationary (N = 3) 218± ± ± ± ± ± 0.3 ± 0.7 ± ± Total Personal (N = 30) 15± ± ± Total Stationary (N = 24) 363± ± Norwegian limit value (ppm)

4 188 B. E. Moen and B. E. Hollund seven used a half mask with a combined gas and vapour lter. Fifteen stated that they always used chemical-resistant gloves, six used such gloves often, four sometimes and three never. The frequency of each acute symptom did not di er signi cantly between the car painters and the reference group (Mann±Whitney test, Table 1), but there was a tendency of eye irritation occurring more frequently among car painters. In addition, the groups did not di er signi cantly in their satisfaction with the ventilation system at work. Among the people who were not satis ed with the ventilation system (N = 10), the car painters (N = 4) had irritated eyes more frequently than the reference group (N = 6) (Mann±Whitney test, p = 0.02), but no other acute symptom di ered in frequency. Occupational monitoring In all the garages, the cars were painted in a painting booth with a ventilation system separated from the general ventilation in the garage. All the air samples showed low exposure to all the measured hydrocarbon compounds, both the stationary and the personally worn samples (Table 2). All the samples were far below the Norwegian limit value (Directorate of Labour Inspection, 1996). The highest levels were found for toluene, reaching half the limit value in two garages. One of these samples was from a place for mixing paint where many open paint cans were observed, and the other was a personal sampling of a painter who had performed cleaning work for a long time with a speci c thinner. DISCUSSION This study found low levels of exposure to organic solvents and a low frequency of acute symptoms during painting work among car painters in Bergen, Norway. The only reported problem for the painters was eye irritation in a garage where the painters were dissatis ed with their ventilation. This problem may be solved either by the workers wearing goggles or by improving the ventilation. Overall, the study indicates that the car-painting garages have implemented measures to prevent exposure to organic solvents. The study was performed in car-painting garages in a relatively large city in Norway, but there is no reason to believe that the situation is di erent in other cities in Norway. The participation rate for the garages was high, and the exposure was measured on randomly selected days, reducing the possibility of biased results from the exposure measurement. However, the situation might be di erent in car-painting garages in the countryside, some distance from the o ces of the Directorate of Labour Inspection, and the situation might be very di erent in other countries with di erent legislation. Evaluating the degree of bias in the responses to the questionnaire is di cult. Some car painters might try to exaggerate the problems in their working environment to promote further improvement, whereas others might try to idealise the situation. However, the questionnaires were anonymous, and the replies were not made available to the employer. This ought to make the answers more reliable than if names had been entered. There is no objective information available in this study to con rm the painters' use of personal protective equipment, and the information obtained must therefore be evaluated with some caution. As there are no normal values available for the presence of the acute symptoms studied, a control group was used for comparison. Workers from the same company established the control group. As the control group consisted of administrative personnel and the exposed workers were industrial painters, the groups were probably not quite comparable. However, the acute symptoms studied may occur due to psychosocial problems like con icts with the manager and stress, as well as to exposure to organic solvents. Choosing a control group from the same company as the exposed workers reduced this possible confounding factor to a minimum, reducing the e ect from a possible con ict or job strain occurring in one company and not in another. The examinations were performed in a standardised way in each car-painting garage. Standardised and known methods for sampling were used. The laboratory used for the analysis had experience in performing the type of analysis and demonstrated high quality in their work. Previous studies of car painters have revealed a higher frequency of various acute symptoms among car painters than among a reference group (Husman, 1980; Elofsson et al., 1980). However, the organic solvent exposure levels were higher in these studies than in the present one. Chatterjee (1984) studied the levels of exposure to organic solvents measured in spray booths in a car plant in Great Britain a few years later. The exposure levels were slightly higher than the levels found in our study. Chatterjee found a high frequency of skin irritation, eye irritation and headaches among the spray painters in the plant. However, these symptoms seemed to be more related to the workers' race than to the level of exposure. The only exception to this was eye irritation, which was most prevalent among the spray painters with the worst ventilation, regardless of race. Triebig et al. (1988) found that the prevalence of acute symptoms did not di er signi cantly between a group of 105 spray painters and a reference group. The levels of exposure to organic solvents were low, quite similar to the levels found in

5 Exposure to organic solvents among car painters 189 our study. Several other studies report similar ndings in the same period, showing that acute e ects may occur from high exposure to organic solvents. Few studies have been performed in Europe in recent years, but such publications are seen from Asian countries. For example, Wang and Chen (1993) studied paint workers in Taiwan, including car painters, and their exposure to organic solvents. These workers painted in painting booths that were poorly ventilated and there was a relationship between the frequency of acute symptoms and high exposure levels. In Norway, no exposure study of car painters has been published, and evaluating whether the levels have improved or not during the years is di cult. However, the exposure to organic solvents seems to be low in the car-painting garages today, producing a minimum of acute symptoms among the car painters. Unlike the previous studies from other countries, car painting in our study was performed in garages with ventilated painting booths, and the workers reported using personal protective equipment during the painting work. The o cial guidelines on the working environment of garages recommend that the painting work should be performed just in this way, and it seems that these recommendations are followed. Car-painting garages may be improved slightly, such as introducing goggles or improving the ventilation systems in one workplace, but in general the garages examined seem to perform car painting with a low risk of developing adverse health e ects from organic solvents. REFERENCES Chatterjee, D. S. (1984) A health survey of car painters of di erent ethnic origin and the importance of racial factors. Journal of Social and Occupational Medicine 34, 86±89. Directorate, of Labour Inspection (1978, 1989) Car repair shops, gasoline stations. O cial legislation (in Norwegian). Directorate, of Labour Inspection (1996) Administrative levels for pollution in the working atmosphere. Guidelines (in Norwegian). Elofsson, S., Gamberale, F., Hindmarsh, T., Iregren, A., Isaksson, A., Johnsson, I., Knave, B., Lydahl, E., Mindus, P., Persson, H. E., Philipson, B., Steby, M., Struwe, G., SoÈ derman, E., Wennberg, A. and Wide n, L. (1980) Exposure to organic solvents. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health 6, 239± 273. Husman, K. (1980) Symptoms of car painters with long term exposure to a mixture of organic solvents. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health 6, 19±32. Juntunen, J. (1986) Occupational solvent poisoning: clinical aspects. In Safety and Health Aspects of Organic Solvents, eds V. RiihimaÈ ki and U. Ulfvarson, pp. 265± 282. Alan R. Liss, New York (ISBN ). Kalliokoski, P. (1986) Solvent containing processes and work practices: environmental observations. In Safety and Health Aspects of Organic Solvents, eds V. RiihimaÈ ki and U. Ulfvarson, pp. 21±30. Alan R. Liss, New York (ISBN ). Laine, A. and RiihimaÈ ki, V. (1986) Acute solvent intoxication. In Safety and Health Aspects of Organic Solvents, eds V. RiihimaÈ ki and U. Ulfvarson, pp. 123± 132. Alan R. Liss, New York ISBN Ron, M. A. (1986) Volatile substance abuse: a review of possible long-term neurological, intellectual and psychiatric sequelae. British Journal of Psychiatry 148, 235±246. Triebig, G., Claus, D., Csuzda, I., Druschky, K.-F., Holler, I., Kinzel, W., Lehrl, S., Reichwein, P., Weidenhammer, W., Weitbrecht, W.-U., Weltle, D., Schaller, K. H. and Valentin, H. (1988) Cross-sectional epidemiological study on neurotoxicity of solvents in paints and lacquers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 60, 233±241. Wang, J.-D. and Chen, J.-D. (1993) Acute and chronic neurological symptoms among paint workers exposed to mixtures of organic solvents. Environmental Research 61, 107±116. WHO Regional O ce for Europe (1985) Chronic E ects of Organic Solvents on the Central Nervous System and Diagnostic Criteria, Report on a Joint WHO/Nordic Council of Ministers Working Group, Copenhagen, 10± 14 June WHO Regional O ce for Europe, Copenhagen (Environmental Health Series, No. 5). Winslow, C. (1927) Summary of the National Safety Council Study of Benzol Poisoning, pp. 61±74. National Safety Council, London.