Toxic Effects of Methanol among Illegally Dispatched Workers at Aluminum CNC Cutting Process in Small-Scale, Third-Tier Subcontractor Factories of Smartphone Manufacturers in the Republic of Korea
- 주제(키워드) methanol exposure , toxic effects , subcontractor manufacturing , dispatched workers , visual defect , neurobehavioral function
- 주제(기타) Environmental Sciences; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- 설명문(일반) [Kang, Chung Won; Kim, Hyunjoo] Ewha Womans Univ, Mokdong Hosp, Dept Occupat & Environm Med, Seoul 07985, South Korea; [Shin, Kyongsok] Seegene Med Fdn, Ctr Bioenvironm Sci, Seoul 04805, South Korea; [Ryu, Jia; Jung-Choi, Kyunghee] Ewha Womans Univ, Coll Med, Dept Occupat & Environm Med, Seoul 07985, South Korea; [Lim, Key Hwan; Kim, Jin-Ha] Ewha Womans Univ, Coll Med, Dept Ophthalmol, Seoul 07985, South Korea
- 등재 SCIE, SSCI, SCOPUS
- 발행기관 MDPI
- 발행년도 2018
- URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ewha/000000155798
- 본문언어 영어
- Published As http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071332
초록/요약
An outbreak of occupational methanol poisoning occurred in small-scale, third-tier factories of large-scale smartphone manufacturers in the Republic of Korea in 2016. To investigate the working environment and the health effects of methanol exposure among co-workers in the methanol poisoning cases, we performed a cross-sectional study on 155 workers at five aluminum Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) cutting factories. Gas chromatography measured air and urinary methanol concentration. In the medical examination, symptom surveys, ophthalmological examinations, and neurobehavioral tests were done. Multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for age and sex were conducted to reveal the association of employment duration with symptoms. Air concentrations of methanol in factory A and E ranged from 228.5 to 2220.0 ppm. Mean urinary methanol concentrations of the workers in each factory were from 3.5 mg/L up to 91.2 mg/L. The odds ratios for symptoms of deteriorating vision and central nervous system (CNS) increased according to the employment duration after adjusting for age and sex. Four cases with an injured optic nerve and two cases with decreased neurobehavioral function were founded among co-workers of the victims. This study showed that the methanol exposure under poor environmental control not only produces eye and CNS symptoms but also affects neurobehavioral function and the optic nerve. The role of subcontracting production and dispatched work under poor environmental control was discussed.
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