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Biomedical subjects

V Foà

Publications and source records attributed to V Foà.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Assessment of exposure to organic aromatic compounds and PAH in asphalt industry: the PPTP-POPA Study results].

Asphalt is a mixture of mineral matter and bitumen, its fumes contain about 1% of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), some of which are carcinogens. In the PPTP-POPA Study of Lombardy Region, a group of 100 asphalt workers (exposed to bitumen fumes and diesel exhausts) and a group of 47 ground construction operators (exposed only to diesel exhausts) were investigated to assess PAH exposure in Italy, by means of environmental-air monitoring (the 16 most relevant, according to the American Environmental Protection Agency, EPA) and biological monitoring (urinary 1-hydroxypyrene excretion). Our results show that PAH exposure in these workers is not higher than that observed in traffic policemen working in urban areas. Since dermal exposure has been suggested as a major determinant of the total PAH dose absorbed by road pavers from bitumen fumes, we assessed skin contamination by organic aromatic compounds and by sixteen PAH: in both groups, six pads were applied to each subject in different parts of the body, during the workshift. The results show that the dermal contamination in road pavers is higher than in ground construction operators and that cutaneous dose rate is higher than respiratory dose rate, whereas the amount of absorption the ratio is inverted.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Urinary MTBE as biological marker of exposure to traffic exhaust fumes].

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is an oxygenated compound added to Italian fuel in quantity of about 3% v/v. In the present study the excretion of urinary MTBE (U-MTBE) was evaluated as biomarker of exposure to traffic exhaust fumes. With this aim 127 Milan urban policemen, working as traffic wardens, were investigated. Spot urine samples were obtained prior to and at the end of the work shift, in different seasons. Median U-MTBE varied from 74 to 164 ng/L (range 60-657 ng/L). Comparing the pre-shift and end-shift samples an increase of about 14% in the U-MTBE level during the workshift was observed. An influence of the different seasons was observed, with lower values in spring and higher values in winter. Smoking did not affect the excretion of U-MTBE. The results of this study suggest that U-MTBE is a sensitive and specific marker for the assessment of exposure to traffic exhaust fumes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The mortality among the makers of vinyl chloride in Italy].

A mortality study was performed on 5,946 vinyl chloride (VC)-polyvinyl chloride (PVC) workers of the nine Italian plants. The aims of the study were to investigate the cause-specific mortality of workers exposed to VC in production and polymerization stages and to ascertain whether exposure is associated with a higher risk of cancers other than liver angiosarcoma. An incident cohort was enumerated in five plants, a mixed cohort in two and a cross sectional one in the remaining two facilities. Cause-specific Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR) were calculated for the six incidence cohorts with a sufficiently long follow-up period. Both Italian and regional rates were used for the comparison. A pooled analysis of six cohorts was performed. For deceased persons, information from death certificates was used in the mortality analysis. Additional clinical and pathological data were sought for all decreased individuals (Best Evidence = BE). The results of the study confirm the carcinogenic action of vinyl chloride on the liver but not on the other suggested target organs (i.e., lung, lymphopoietic tissues, brain). A deficit for all causes of death and cardiovascular disease was evident in most cohorts and in the pooled cohort. Analysis of BE data showed a broad spectrum of carcinogenic action of VCM on the liver as demonstrated by the occurrence of both angiosarcomas and other histotypes of tumours.

Cause of Death↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Pathology caused by microdoses of chemical substances].

Improvement in environmental conditions in industry is producing a progressive reduction in the dose of absorbed substances. This has repercussions on the work of the occupational health physician, who now has to face a new set of problems, problems which at the same time offer occasions for further research in risk assessment of chemical agents. The most obvious finding, which has perhaps been handled more systematically, concerns the change in occupational diseases, whence the need to extend designs and protocols of health surveillance. The expected effects of occupational exposure to low doses of a chemical fall within the category of what may be defined as long-term effects, carcinogenic effects and, above all, effects involving systems or apparatuses that are sensitive to low doses but over long periods, such as, for example, the immune and the reproductive systems. This new situation than has repercussions on biological monitoring: in the first place on the problem of setting reference values and on the study and control of confounding factors; secondly, on the predictivity of the biological indicators used. In some cases, in fact, the indicators of dose that the occupational health physician has learnt to use and on which his approach to prevention his based, proved to be no longer predictive in such new exposure situations.

Environmental Monitoring↗