Abstract  Lots of chemicals are produced in chemical industry and used everywhere as convenient and indispensable materials in daily life and industry. Moreover, many new chemicals are needed to produce competitive new goods such as new medicines, new dyestuffs, new agricultural chemicals and others. Main chemicals used in industry have reached to more than 50,000 kinds. And many workers are exposed to chemicals and injured all over the world. To protect the workers in small workplaces against hazardous chemicals is one of the most important tasks of occupational health. n-Hexane, lead and 1-bromopropane poisoning are shown as examples for health hazards and preventive measures in small workplaces. Preventive measure such as TLV or OEL, Material Safety Data sheets, health check-up, comprehensive cooperation among employers, workers, researchers, industrial physicians and administrative officers, and information on toxicity are discussed.

Abstract  Occupational exposure to trichloroethylene (TRIC) and perchloroethylene (PERC) in metal degreasing is analyzed by calculating airborne concentrations for a large set of possible exposure scenarios (Scenario-Based Risk Assessment, SceBRA). Different types of degreasing machines ranging from open-top machines used until the 1980s to closed-loop nonvented machines used since the 1990s are investigated; the scope of the study is Germany. Concentrations are calculated for different kinds of releases (emissions from open baths, leakage, release of contaminated air during loading and unloading) with a dynamic two-box model for the near-field and the far-field. The concentration estimates are in good agreement with measured data. The airborne concentrations are compared to maximum workplace concentrations (MAK values). The full set of scenarios shows for which situations MAK values were exceeded and how the transition to newer degreasing machines reduced the occupational exposure by more than one order of magnitude. In addition, numbers of exposed workers are estimated for different years. While more than 25,000 workers in the near-field were exposed to TRIC and PERC in 1985, the number is below 3000 since 1996, which is mainly due to technology changes, rationalization, automatization, and replacement of TRIC and PERC by nonchlorinated solvents.

Abstract  Vehicle garages often contain high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may migrate into adjoining residences. This study characterizes VOC concentrations, exposures, airflows, and source apportionments in 15 single-family houses with attached garages in southeast Michigan. Fieldwork included inspections to determine possible VOC sources, deployment of perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) sources in garages and occupied spaces, and measurements of PFT, VOC, and CO(2) concentrations over a 4-day period. Air exchange rates (AERs) averaged 0.43+/-0.37 h(-1) in the houses and 0.77+/-0.51 h(-1) in the garages, and air flows from garages to houses averaged 6.5+/-5.3% of the houses' overall air exchange. A total of 39 VOC species were detected indoors, 36 in the garage, and 20 in ambient air. Garages showed high levels of gasoline-related VOCs, e.g., benzene averaged 37+/-39 microg m(-3). Garage/indoor ratios and multizone IAQ models show that nearly all of the benzene and most of the fuel-related aromatics in the houses resulted from garage sources, confirming earlier reports that suggested the importance of attached garages. Moreover, doses of VOCs such as benzene experienced by non-smoking individuals living in houses with attached garages are dominated by emissions in garages, a result of exposures occurring in both garage and house microenvironments. All of this strongly suggests the need to better control VOC emissions in garages and contaminant migration through the garage-house interface.