Biomonitoring of Urinary Nickel Successfully Protects Employees and Introduces Effective Interventions

Che-Yu Kuo, Cheng-Fu Lin, Shih-Yu Chung, Yu-Li Lin, Wei-Min Chu, Chun-Chieh Chen and Yu-Tse Tsan
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Che-Yu Kuo: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Emergency, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Cheng-Fu Lin: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Emergency, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Shih-Yu Chung: Division of Family Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital Puli Branch, Nantou 54552, Taiwan
Yu-Li Lin: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Emergency, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Wei-Min Chu: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Emergency, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Chun-Chieh Chen: School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Yu-Tse Tsan: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Emergency, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: Nickel is a heavy metal used in many industries. Nickel exposure can induce respiratory diseases and allergic reactions, and increase cancer risk. This study evaluated the introduction of a grinding and polishing system to prevent injuries from nickel toxicity in workers. We performed a controlled, interventional, before-and-after study from January 2018 to December 2019 at a faucet component industrial manufacturing site. Results from workplace environmental monitoring, questionnaire responses, and biomonitoring were collected before and after the intervention. Thirty-seven workers (100% men) aged 25.0 (interquartile range (IQR): 22.0–33.5) years were categorized into two groups, those with and without nickel exposure. In the exposed group, the median exposure time was 18.0 months (IQR 14.0–20.0 months). Urinary nickel concentration was lower in the exposed group than in the non-exposed group (13.8 (IQR 1.7–20.7); 23.1 (IQR 11.3–32.8) μg/g creatinine, respectively; p = 0.047). The median urinary nickel concentration was lower in the second year than in the first year (17.4 (IQR 2.2–27.4), 7.7 (IQR 4.3–18.5) μg/g creatinine, respectively; p = 0.022). Significant reductions in urinary nickel concentration were observed following the intervention and educational program. Thus, biomonitoring of urinary nickel concentration can successfully reflect the effectiveness of interventions and their relationship to nickel exposure.

Keywords: nickel toxicity; urinary nickel; biomonitoring; workplace monitoring; behavioral change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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