Hospital workers often can be simultaneously exposed to several potentially hazardous (biological, chemical, and physical) agents. Consequently the environmental controls and the periodic health assessments must be overall and systematic, but not too frequent. The authors suggest the establishment of an interdisciplinary group, including: Hospital Management, Technical Staff, Occupational Physician, Occupational Health Nurses, Environmental Hygienists.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Nifedipine and isometric exercise. Evaluation of the pressure response in hypertensive patients].

Because of isometric efforts are a normal component of the usual life, we studied 35 patients suffering from mild and moderate essential hypertension, by means of an isometric exercise test, using the "handgrip method". The purpose of the experimental work was the evaluation of pressure changes at the top of an isometric stress in basal conditions and the demonstration of the protective effect against pressure increase of nifedipine, acutely administered (20 mg sublingual). The results largely confirmed the usefulness of nifedipine in the treatment of hypertension at rest and at the top of an isometric exercise. Moreover, the pressure increase during the same effort after nifedipine administration is smaller than during a therapy with others antihypertensive drugs.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Behaviour of urinary nickel in low-level occupational exposure.

The study tested the feasibility of using urinary nickel (Ni-U) as a biological indicator to assess exposure to soluble nickel compounds in electroplating departments at concentrations well below the current TLV-TWA. Two groups of workers were studied: Group A, consisting of 13 subjects and Group B consisting of 10 subjects, with an average weekly nickel exposure of nickel in air (Ni-A) greater than or equal to 10 micrograms/m3 (Group A) and less than 10 micrograms/m3 (Group B). Air samples and urine specimens were taken on 4 consecutive days from Monday to Thursday. The mean Ni-U levels in both groups were significantly higher than in the reference group. The Ni-U levels in end-of-shift spot samples showed a tendency to increase over the week; this trend was more marked in Group A. Closer correlations between Ni-A and Ni-U were found using the postshift Ni-U values of Thursday: the test was well correlated both with the Ni-A levels of the same day and with the mean levels of the previous days. The results suggest that Ni-U is a sufficiently sensitive indicator for use in monitoring low-level occupational exposure, especially if Ni-A concentrations are above 10 micrograms/m3.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied