miércoles, 11 de junio de 2008

Higiene industrial. Manual práctico


Higiene industrial. Manual práctico 2 vols.

Autor: Falagán Rojo, Manuel Jesús
EAN:9788493120290
Editado por: Fundación Luis Fernández Velasco
Esta es la 3ª edición, en idioma Castellano, con encuadernación Rústica


Precio : 79.00 €

HIGIENE INDUSTRIAL APLICADA constituye una obra actualizada orientada a satisfacer las necesidades de formación y desarrollo no sólo teórico sino igualmente práctico en este campo, tanto para personal universitario novel que se inicia en el conocimiento de esta materia, como para todos aquellos profesionales vinculados con la prevención incluyendo los especialistas en el tema.

29º Congreso Internacional Trienal de Salud Ocupacional


Desde el 22 al 27 de Marzo de 2009

martes, 10 de junio de 2008

El amianto que no existió en Michelin

Información del diario EL PAÍS
El amianto que no existió en Michelin
La multinacional francesa asegura que "no utiliza ni ha utilizado" ese producto en Vitoria, pese a quedar acreditado en una sentencia del Superior

PEDRO GOROSPE - Bilbao - 10/06/2008





¿Ha existido el amianto o no? La contradicción entre lo que afirma la planta de la multinacional francesa Michelin en Vitoria y el relato de hechos de una sentencia del Tribunal Superior de Justicia del País Vasco es evidente. El asunto podría no tener demasiada trascendencia, salvo por el hecho de que hay un trabajador del fabricante de neumáticos al que el 11 de septiembre de 2007 diagnosticaron un mesotelioma, un cáncer de pulmón asociado al contacto con el producto cancerígeno.

La empresa negó a Osalan que haya tenido contacto con amianto

Cuando este trabajador reclamó el reconocimiento de la enfermedad profesional, Osalan mandó a sus técnicos para elaborar un informe y la dirección de la fábrica negó que hubiera existido amianto en sus instalaciones. De hecho, el informe que Osalan remite a la Inspección de Trabajo de Álava el 8 de abril de 2008, y que ésta da curso el pasado 24 de abril, describe que los técnicos y directivos de la empresa han asegurado que no ha habido exposición del trabajador al amianto porque ese producto no ha existido en la empresa. Esto lleva a la Inspección de Trabajo a concluir así el expediente: "No existe ningún indicio a la luz de los datos expuestos que permita deducir un posible origen profesional de la enfermedad que sufre F. J. M.".

Caso cerrado. O, al menos, eso parece oficialmente. Sin embargo, alguien miente en este asunto. Un pronunciamiento de la Sala de lo Social del Tribunal Superior de Justicia del País Vasco no deja lugar a dudas. En una sentencia dictada en noviembre de 2006, recoge un episodio ocurrido en 1997 que confirma la existencia en aquella fecha de amianto en Michelin y en el proceso de producción ordinario de neumáticos.

Esta resolución es la última de un largo proceso judicial que inició un trabajador en 1997 al caerse de una máquina. Ese empleado pertenecía a la empresa Montajes Eissen S.A., (ME) que había sido contratada por Michelin en Vitoria para hacer una serie de trabajos en la factoría. Pues bien, en los antecedentes de hecho del caso, el alto tribunal vasco describe que el accidente de ese trabajador se produjo del modo siguiente: "En agosto de 1997 la línea de prensa LJ no se encuentra en periodo productivo, por lo que la empresa contrata a ME para que desmonte las prensas instaladas en dicha línea para la sustitución del aislamiento de amianto por acolchados de fibra de vidrio".

Poco después, el fallo judicial describe que "la línea LJ es una prensa en forma de esfera de 1,5 metros de diámetro dividida en dos semiesferas. Durante el proceso de producción ordinario el casquete superior de la esfera se cierra sobre el inferior efectuando el prensado sobre el neumático conformado en su interior".

Esa sentencia tiene una peculiaridad. El tribunal falla contra Michelin y contra la empresa de montajes, en un recurso de súplica en el que entre otras cosas pedían la anulación, precisamente, de esos antecedentes en los que se demuestra que Michelin tenía amianto en su proceso productivo.

Fuentes sindicales indicaron que esta nueva evidencia debería obligar a Osalan a rehacer su informe y a concluir que en Michelin sí había amianto.

Michelin reiteró ayer, a través de un portavoz oficial, que "no se utiliza la fibra de amianto ni se ha utilizado, en el proceso productivo".

Un tribunal de Clermont-Ferrand, localidad que acoge la sede principal de Michelin, dio recientemente la razón a un ex trabajador de la empresa y a las viudas de otros tres empleados que fallecieron como consecuencia de un cáncer de pulmón, tras sufrir exposición al amianto.

Hot Topics in Hearing Protection

Hot Topics in Hearing Protection: An expert shares what you need to know.

Is your organization making the most of opportunities to decrease hearing loss exposure? Learn which issues are critical for making your organization's hearing conservation program as effective as it can be, and learn the impact of potential standards changes on the horizon.


Register now for this free webinar

Session I - Thursday, June 19
9am PT/11am CT/12pm ET
Topics Include:

* How attenuation is measured
* How NRRs are computed
* What do NRRs mean?
* What changes are recommended for the NRR system?

Session II - Thursday, June 26
9am PT/11am CT/12pm ET
Topics Include:

* How to improve communication in noisy settings
* How to assign HPDs based on noise exposure
* Proper fitting, use and care of HPDs

Hearing conservation expert Elliott Berger will outline critical issues to improve the effectiveness of your organization's hearing conservation program.

By attending the sessions, you'll learn:

* What you need to know about the current NRR system
* An insider's look at what's brewing with the EPA and potential
changes to the NRR system
* How to overcome the hurdles of communicating in noise
* How to pick the right hearing protection device (HPD) for the
environment

Diabetes linked prospectively to pesticide use

Farmers and Others Using Pesticides Show Higher Diabetes Risk
By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: June 05, 2008

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Diabetes/tb/9715

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Long-term exposure to a range of insecticides and herbicides is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, epidemiologists here said.

In one example, the risk of diabetes was increased 94% for those who had used the insecticide heptachlor more than 100 days in a lifetime, compared with nonusers, according to Dale Sandler, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and colleagues.

The finding emerged from the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective longitudinal look at 52,393 farmers and others who used insecticides and herbicides in the work in Iowa and North Carolina, Dr. Sandler and colleagues reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"The results suggest that pesticides may be a contributing factor for diabetes along with known risk factors such as obesity, lack of exercise and having a family history of diabetes," Dr. Sandler said in a statement.

The general public "is not entirely unexposed to these chemicals," added co-author Freya Kamel, Ph.D., also of the federal agency.

But she said levels of exposure are low and the traditional risk factors for diabetes -- overweight and lack of exercise -- remain the key elements in preventing the disease.

"I don't think anyone should panic," she said.

The volunteers in the current study were recruited in 1993 and completed a baseline survey on lifetime pesticide application practices and exposures and a brief medical history. Also, 44% of the volunteers completed a more detailed take-home questionnaire.

>From 1999 through 2003, participants were reached again for a follow-up telephone interview, and 33,457 (or 64%) gave updated information on their medical conditions, including diabetes.

After excluding those who had diabetes at baseline and those with missing information, Dr. Sandler and colleagues analyzed the effects of 50 chemicals on a total of 31,787 licensed applicators.

The study is "one of the largest studies looking at the potential effects of pesticides on diabetes incidence in adults," Dr. Kamel said. "It clearly shows that cumulative lifetime exposure is important and not just recent exposure," she added.

Of 50 chemicals evaluated, the study pinpointed five insecticides -- aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, dichlorvos, and trichlorfon -- as well as the herbicides alachlor and cyanazine.

For all seven, the odds of developing diabetes increased with both any use and cumulative use, the researchers said.

For example, any use of heptachlor was associated with an odds ratio for diabetes of 1.20, with a 95% confidence interval from 1.01 to 1.43. Cumulative use of more than 100 days was associated with an odds ratio of 1.94, with a 95% confidence interval from 1.02 to 3.69.

Among the herbicides, any use of cyanazine was associated with an odds ratio for diabetes of 1.27, with a 95% confidence interval from 1.09 to 1.47, while cumulative use of more than 100 days was associated with an odds ratio of 1.38, with a 95% confidence interval from 1.10 to 1.72.

All seven of the compounds associated with diabetes were chlorinated, although only about half of the evaluated chemicals were chlorinated, the researchers found.

"The fact that all seven of these pesticides are chlorinated provides us with an important clue for further research," Dr. Kamel said. "It's the only thing we can see that they have in common and it's not clear what that would mean."

"The next step is really for the toxicologists," she said.

The authors pointed out several limitations of the study including the use of self-reported diagnosis of diabetes and an inability to control for exercise and diet.

They also noted that "there was a strong relation between diabetes incidence and state of residence; applicators from North Carolina had a two-fold increased odds of diabetes compared with applicators in Iowa, even after adjustment for age, body mass index, and smoking. This may reflect differences in health and lifestyle status between the states that were not completely controlled for by age, body mass index, and smoking alone."

The study was supported by the NIEHS. The researchers did not declare any competing interests.

Primary source: American Journal of Epidemiology
Source reference:
Montgomery MP, et al "Incident diabetes and pesticide exposure among
licensed pesticide applicators: Agricultural health study, 1993-2003"
Am J Epidemiol 2008; 167: 1235-1246.

= -- = -- = -- = -- = -- = --

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/10/1235?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&author1=Montgomery&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT%22
or
http://tinyurl.com/6zu8cq

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Incident Diabetes and Pesticide Exposure among Licensed Pesticide
Applicators: Agricultural Health Study, 1993–2003
M. P. Montgomery1, F. Kamel1, T. M. Saldana2, M. C. R. Alavanja3 and
D. P. Sandler1

1 Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and
Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC
2 Social & Scientific Systems, Durham, NC
3 Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer
Institute, Bethesda, MD

Correspondence to Dr. Dale P. Sandler, Epidemiology Branch, National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, 111 T. W.
Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (e-mail:
sandler@niehs.nih.gov).

Received for publication October 2, 2007. Accepted for publication
January 25, 2008.

Exposure to certain environmental toxicants may be associated with
increased risk of developing diabetes. The authors' aim was to
investigate the relation between lifetime exposure to specific
agricultural pesticides and diabetes incidence among pesticide
applicators. The study included 33,457 licensed applicators,
predominantly non-Hispanic White males, enrolled in the Agricultural
Health Study. Incident diabetes was self-reported in a 5-year
follow-up interview (1999–2003), giving 1,176 diabetics and 30,611
nondiabetics for analysis. Lifetime exposure to pesticides and
covariate information were reported by participants at enrollment
(1993–1997). Using logistic regression, the authors considered two
primary measures of pesticide exposure: ever use and cumulative
lifetime days of use. They found seven specific pesticides (aldrin,
chlordane, heptachlor, dichlorvos, trichlorfon, alachlor, and
cyanazine) for which the odds of diabetes incidence increased with
both ever use and cumulative days of use. Applicators who had used the
organochlorine insecticides aldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor more
than 100 lifetime days had 51%, 63%, and 94% increased odds of
diabetes, respectively. The observed association of organochlorine and
organophosphate insecticides with diabetes is consistent with results
from previous human and animal studies. Long-term exposure from
handling certain pesticides, in particular, organochlorine and
organophosphate insecticides, may be associated with increased risk of
diabetes.

Cancer risk among residents of Rhineland-Palatinate winegrowing communities: a cancer-registry based ecological study

Cancer risk among residents of Rhineland-Palatinate winegrowing communities: a cancer-registry based ecological study
Seidler A, Hammer G, Husmann G, Konig J, Krtschil A, Schmidtmann I, Blettner M
Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 2008 3:12 ( 6 June 2008 )
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]