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J W Cherrie

Publications and source records attributed to J W Cherrie.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Comparison of information on occupation and lifestyle habits obtained from European man-made vitreous fibre production workers and their relatives.

BACKGROUND: Studies of the aetiology of fatal diseases often rely on data obtained from relatives, which can cause loss of precision and introduce bias. We assessed the quality of such information on demographics, occupation, smoking and alcohol habits. METHODS: We compared contemporary interviews, based on a structured questionnaire, with male workers from the man-made vitreous fibre production industry in four European countries and their relatives. The participation rate was 63% (74 pairs of workers and relatives). RESULTS: Only minor differences in the ability to answer the questions appeared among workers and relatives, except for specific occupational questions. There was moderate to excellent agreement for demographics, residential and work history (kappa or intraclass correlation range: 0.44-0.98). For smoking habits, beer and wine consumption the agreement was good to excellent (range: 0.59-0.99). In particular, number of different residential areas, jobs, industries, and duration of wine drinking were significantly underreported by the relatives. No general determinant for reduced agreement appeared. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the quality of information obtained from relatives appeared good. However, information on specific occupational exposures may be improved by supplementing the information from relatives with details obtained from colleagues, occupational hygiene experts or occupation-exposure matrices.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Biologically relevant assessment of dermal exposure.

Dermal uptake of hazardous substances is dependent on the concentration of the material on the surface of the skin rather than its mass. It is suggested that it would be appropriate to consider the integral of concentration, over the skin surface and throughout the exposure duration, as an appropriate index of dermal exposure. For a low volatility substance this exposure index would correspond to the product of concentration, area of skin exposed and the duration of exposure. For volatile materials the magnitude of the exposure index would additionally depend on the loss of the substance by evaporation. This dermal exposure index is more likely to reflect the contribution to the overall dose received from the skin than the previously used determinations of mass of hazardous substance on the skin. Suggestions are made for possible methods of making measurements using this index.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed1994

Does the wearing of sampling pumps affect exposure?

There is a possibility that wearing traditional sampling pumps could affect worker behaviour and undermine the validity of occupational hygiene exposure measurement. Sampling pumps are bulky and can be noisy, and if these characteristics alter work patterns sufficiently exposures may be modified. This paper describes a carefully controlled pilot study designed to test the hypothesis that the wearing of personal sampling pumps may affect workers' exposure. Comparisons were made using pump-based systems and diffusive samplers to measure organic vapours. Diffusive samplers were chosen as controls because they are much less bulky and therefore less likely to affect behaviour. A carefully constructed sampling strategy, involving measurements on between 13 and 20 workers on 6 working days, was used at five sites. On alternate days both sampling methods were used, side-by-side, on the workers and on the remaining days only diffusive samplers were worn. The sites chosen had minimal day-to-day variation in environmental conditions. The results showed that at one site the concentrations were approximately 50% higher on the days when pumps were worn compared with other days. At the remaining sites no significant differences were found. From the characteristics of the work at the site where differences were observed it is suggested that pumps may affect measured concentrations when people have flexible work patterns and spend part of their time seated and/or the work is in quiet areas.

Bias↗
PubMed1991

The Joint Education and Training Committee of the BOHS, IOH and BEBOH--a discussion on the future of occupational hygiene education and training in the U.K.

This paper begins by drawing a clear distinction between the principles of occupational hygiene, which may be used by many occupational safety and health practitioners, and the profession of occupational hygiene. A new definition of occupational hygiene, which focuses on the objective of promoting health by intervention in the workplace, is proposed. Occupational hygiene professionals should be able to carry out a wide range of activities allied to this objective, from recognizing factors which may affect workers' health to setting priorities for risk management. A description of the competence of a professional hygienist, based on a document produced by the World Health Organization, is presented. The interaction between the various occupational safety and health practitioners is explored and the increasing interaction between the different skill groups recognized. The changing pattern of hazards in the workplace and the changing role of the hygienist are also discussed. In particular, the necessity for hygienists to develop management skills is highlighted. The paper concludes that occupational hygiene education and training must reflect the changing hazards in the workplace and the current approaches to the management of the risks.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1980

Fibre concentrations and size distributions of airborne fibres in several European man-made mineral fibre plants.

Although the nominal diameters of fibres produced in the glass and rock wool industries are usually 6-15 micrometers, these products contain a small proportion of respirable fibres (less than 3 micrometers diameter). Particular significance has been attached to the biological risk arising from the long (greater than 10 micrometers), fine (less than 1 micrometers) fibres. Therefore, the medical research sponsored by the Joint European Medical Research Board into the effects of man-made fibres on health has included detailed environmental studies on both the exposure levels to respirable fibres and the fibre size distributions at the European plants selected for epidemiological work. This paper summarizes the results obtained so far. The size distributions (length and diameter) of the airborne man-made mineral fibres are compared with similar data previously reported for airborne asbestos fibres.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Man-made mineral fibers and lung cancer: an hypothesis.

Epidemiological data have revealed significant excesses of lung cancer among workers exposed to some types of man-made mineral fibers (MMMF), but inhalation experiments performed on rats have failed to reveal the origin of these excesses. Some of these materials, however, are able, in aqueous media, to exhibit surface oxidizing properties after reduction of oxygen by a radical pathway. Tests have been carried out with 12 MMMF samples collected from various sources without prior knowledge of their origin, to determine their oxidizing surface activity in relation to their divalent iron content. Some of these fibers were obtained from factories included in an epidemiological investigation. Only fibers coming from plants where excesses of lung cancer were observed are classified as active in an oxidative process and, consequently, probably toxic in biological media by an oxidative stress mechanism. We therefore propose an hypothesis of a causal relationship between these oxidizing properties and the ability of the materials to induce lung cancer.

Animals↗