Occupational Toxicology And Health Effects PDF

0ccupational Toxicology and Health  Occupational Toxicology and Health Effects Introduction It is necessary to understand the nature of the health hazards and how do they affect the human body. Understanding the health hazard will help the workers know how to deal with them in...

0ccupational Toxicology and Health  Occupational Toxicology and Health Effects Introduction It is necessary to understand the nature of the health hazards and how do they affect the human body. Understanding the health hazard will help the workers know how to deal with them in their daily activities without acquiring any sickness or illnesses through the provision of proper control measure. In order to provide appropriate control measure you have to identify first what are the hazard present in your workplace. One of the effective ways in determining the health hazard present in the workplace area is to monitor the health of the workers assigned n the concerned area, Determining hazards can be done either by asking workers on how they feel, by observing the symptoms that have manifested to their body or by knowing and understanding the effects of hazards. Also by doing so, the authorities will know the concentration and the amount of hazard in the work areas and enable them to push policies and law to eliminate the future occurrence of the illnesses or even death Industrial toxicology Industrial toxicology is the science of understanding the physical and chemical characteristics of all know poisonous substances that are present in the workplace environment and how does it will affect the function of the human body or the workers.  The intensity of the hazard depends on how toxic and the number or time of exposure of the workers against the substance is. This relation can be expressed with the formula shown below. HAZARD = TOXICITY X EXPOSURE Where: Hazard = it is the risk of danger in poisoning. Toxicity = it refers to the inherit poisonous potency Exposure = it is the concentration of substance in the environment.  Toxicity To refers to the degree to which a substance (a toxin or poison) can harm human or animals. Acute toxicity involves harmful effects in an organism through a single or short term exposure of a person to the body. Dose Dose refers to the amount of substances that the person intake in their system. Dose also defined as the level of intensity of hazards that the human experiences during a span of time. Exposure Exposure refers to the state of being contact with a certain type of work environment or health hazard in a given specific time. When safety or health hazards. There are two(2) types of exposure and these are the “Acute” and “chronic” exposures. Acute Exposure Acute exposure refers to a single or one time exposure against the hazards or harmful substances that causes severe harm, illnesses or even death to a person. Acute exposure can also be known as the “High-dose exposure”. Pesticide poisoning is a good example of an effect of an acute exposure. Chronic Exposure Chronic exposure is defined as the state of continuous or recurring contact with toxic substances or materials over a long period of time. Chronic exposure to toxic substances at work may cause long- term health exposure”. The good example of this type of exposure was lead poisoning and cancer for benzene  Classification of Occupational Hazards Occupational hazards, Health or Work Environment Hazards are the factors found in the workplace area that can cause injuries, diseases, illnesses or deviation from health. This can be classified as the physical, chemical, biological and ergonomics hazards  FACTORS AFFECTING THE HUMAN BODY'S RESPONSE TO HAZARDS  Workers can have any illness related to certain occupational hazards depends on how their body react to specific hazards they are encountering in their daily work. The following factors such as genetic or heredity, age, gender and medical history may influence the workers' body in responding to the health hazards. Genetic or Heredity One of the major factors that a person can get an illness when exposed to the work environment or health hazard is the heredity or genetics. Sometimes a person is born with a weak organ because he inherited that condition from his parent, grand parents or ancestors, it was called genetic heredity. If a person born with a weak organ and was exposed to a substance, chemicals or biological hazards that will attack the said weak organ then there is a huge chance of having illnesses even exposed in low level of concentration. For example, when a person born with weak lungs and exposed to tuberculosis bacteria, then there will be a huge chance that he will acquire a Tuberculosis or TB. Or when he will be exposed in silica dust even at low level of concentration he will also have a chance of getting Silicosis or lung diseases. Age Age can affect the body's response to any hazardous substances. At the very young age, human body has not yet build its immune system that will protect the body from any harmful substances. At this stage when a body was exposed to hazards it can easily affect the system that may lead to illnesses or serious damage to human body. Also when the human body was too old, the immune system cannot react quickly to the hazards. The recovery of the body against injuries and illnesses were too slow. That is why when serious injuries and illnesses happened to the human body it will took a long time in order to recuperate and become well. Gender The gender of a person plays an important role whether a worker can be affected by the work environment hazard ether For example, the skin of a female person is much thinner that the absorbed by the female workers and has a high chance of getting skin of a male person thus the chemical hazards can be easily affected by the hazardous substances than male. Medical History For When a person has experienced lung related illnesses then most probably that person can easily get any lung related illnesses when he will be often exposed to hazardous substances that can affect the lungs such as solvents and other chemicals. example a person has recovered from tuberculosis disease and will be exposed to an environment that has high concentration volatile organic compounds then most likely he will have a lung disease because his lungs were damaged. Variables that Influence Effects of Hazards to an Individual There are many variables that influence the effects of hazards in some individuals and these are the following:  Physical properties of the hazards  Multiplicity of exposure to the hazards  Duration of exposure to the hazards  Timing of exposure  Magnitude of exposure FUNCTION OF HUMAN BODY SYSTEM Respiratory System Respiratory system is a series of organs responsible for taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. The primary organs on the respiratory system are lungs, which carry out the exchange gases as we breathe. Respiratory systems are consisted with nasal passages, pharynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. The parts of the respiratory system were shown in figure 6-2 below. Lungs Lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system of the human body. The function of this organ is to exchange gas that is essential to other human organs and body parts. Lungs collect oxygen from the atmosphere to be fed into the blood stream and releases carbon dioxide from the blood stream back to the atmosphere. Nose Nose refers to the organ of the human body that recognizes the smell. Air goes into the respiratory system through the nose. Air that enters the nose passes through the cell of the olfactory system that transmits the signal to the brain what the smell is. The nose also filters the air to attain the good quality before reaching to the lungs. Hairs inside the nose are responsible for straining large particulates present in the atmosphere Renal System Renal system or also known as the urinary system, is the part of the body that gets rid of the body waste, regulates the amount of body fluids and regulates the amount of salts in the body. This system filters the waste and excess water from the blood. The parts of the renal systems are the kidney, urethra, bladder and the ureter. The system is illustrated in the diagram below (see figure 6-3 Cardiovascular System Cardiovascular system or also known as the circulatory system that permits blood to transport nutrients such as amino acids, electrolytes, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hormones in the body to provide nourishment, stabilize body temperature, help fight diseases and infection by transporting white blood cell to important areas. The said system consists of heart, blood, arteries, veins and capillaries. the parts and location of every parts of the circulatory system. Blood The blood refers to the red colored fluid that flows throughout the circulatory system that carries oxygen, minerals and other essential substances that are needed by the cell. Blood also transports the metabolic wastes that are produced by the cells to the respective body systems by means of excretion such as the renal, respiratory and hepatic system. Blood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cell, platelets and proteins as illustrated in figure 6-5 below. Reproductive System Reproductive system is a system of sex organs within an organism which works together for the purpose of sexual Many non-living substances such as fluids, reproduction. hormones and pheromones are also necessary elements to the reproductive system. Reproductive system also helps nurture the developing fetus. Male and female persons have different sets of reproductive organs. For males the reproductive organs were consisted of testicles, seminal vesicles, prostate glands and the penis. For females the reproductive organs were consisted of uterus, vigina, fallopian tubes, ovaries and the cervix. Nervous System Nervous system refers to the group of organs that was responsible in transmitting messages from one part of the body to another. This system includes the central nervous system that consists of the brain and the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system that consist of the nerves. Immune System Immune system is the network of cells, tissue and organs that work together to defend the body against the attack of the foreign invaders such as living and non-living organism. This system also helps the body type tumor cells and hazardous environmental substances. Immune system includes the lymph system, bone marrow, white blood cells, and the spleen. The part of the immune system was shown below in figure 6-7 Integumentary System The integumentary system is the group of organs that aims to protect the body from various kind of damage, such as loss of water or abrasion from outside, protect against biological factors and diseases, eliminates waste products and regulates body temperature. The system also serves as shock absorber or cushion to protect the deeper tissues and organs beneath it. Another function of the system is detecting the pain, sensation, pressure and temperature. The integumentary system comprises the skin, nails, hair, and exocrine glands. Skin The skin is the largest and flexible organ in the body. The said organ covers and protects internal organs of a human body. This prevents regulates body temperature through the sweat glands. Skin can be affected by some external factors such as physical, chemical and biological agents that may lead to physical damages, diseases like dermatitis, cancer and others. The parts of the skin are illustrated in the figure 6-8 above. Hepatic System Hepatic system is the group of organs that breaks down the bod and store nutrients, makes proteins which are essential for blood to clot, and to purify the body of drugs, contaminants or Chemicals. The system is comprise of liver, small intestine, spleen and pancreas. Liver The main function of the liver is detoxifying chemicals and metabolizing the drugs in the blood circulating in the body. The liver also makes protein that was necessary for the blood to clot. Damaged liver can cause irregularities in our body especially the blood and other body organs. Endocrine System The endocrine system is the collection of glands on an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried towards distant target organs. This system regulates metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep and the mood. Endocrine systems are composed of pancreas, pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid and adrenaline glands and also the ovaries for female and testicles for males. Endocrine system is best illustrated in figure 6-10 below. In the left side of the figure shows the location of the organs included in the endocrine system and on the opposite side shows the male endocrine system. Visual System The visual system is a part of central nervous system and refers to the group of organs that processes visual details of an organism, as well as the enabling formation of some non-image photo response function. Organs such as eye and optic nerves are some of the body organs that complete the visual system of the human body. Figure 6-11 below shows the parts of the visual system of the human a human body. Eyes Eye refers to the pair of globe like organs located on the upper portion of theile and susceptible to injury. When the eyes upper portion of the head that translate the light into visible objects Eyes are very fraazards that will cause penetrating wounds, the cornea of the eyes can be damaged and causes blindness. Some irritand af bone substances such as the acids, ammonia and sulphur dioxide and some allergens may cause conjunctivitis. Parts of the eye were shown in figure 6-12 below. Musculoskeletal System The musculoskeletal system is the combination of the muscle and skeletal system and works together to enable the human body move. The main function of the said system is to provide support, stability and movement of the body. The set of bones provides the stability and support to every organ and the muscles are responsible for the movement of the body. Bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, joints, ligaments and other connective tissues are the organs that comprise the musculoskeletal system. The combination of muscle and skeleton are shown in the figure 6-13 illustrated below. Auditory System Auditory system is the organ system of the human body that senses the sound pressure and translates it into signals for the brain to perceive sounds. It is also known as the sensory system for sense of hearing. The said system includes the organs such as the ear, hair cells and the neurons. Ear The ear organ that collects sound waves and translate it into the different sounds observed as hearing. The ear is also the organ which is responsible for the balance of most animals that has vertebrates especially humans. Ear has external, middle and inner parts. Pinna refers visible part of the ear made up of skin and ridged cartilage that serves as the sound funnels. The sound waves collected by the pinna will pass through the auditory canal to the eardrums. Sound pressure makes the eardrum vibrates and carries it to the bones called the ossicles that transmit sound signals to brain. Eardrum is a very thin membrane that when exposed to a very high pressure it will easily tear. Torn eardrum may lead to hearing loss unable for the person to detect sound easily Route of Entry Substances can affect the health of human when it accumulates inside the body. The accumulated substances can disrupt the function of a specific human body system that may affect the health of the people. When chemicals are in their airborne form it is become more dangerous since it can easily get through the body. Hazards may enter the human body through Inhalation, Skin contact and Digestion that may lead to injury, illnesses or even death as shown in figure 6-15. Inhalation Inhalation refers to the result of negative pressure in the lungs caused by the contraction of the diaphragm, resulting flow of air into the lungs contaminated air maybe inhaled into flow of and enters the human body system through the circulatory system and to the target organs. Breathing out Skin Contact Another way that the chemicals can enter into the human body system is by skin contact. When chemical touches the skin the substance may enter to the pores and lead to the blood vessels and into the circulatory system and accumulate to the affected target organs and will disrupt the function of the body system. Substances that are in the airborne form have the high chance that it will enter the body through skin contact since the chemical can touch any part of the skin. Another factor that chemicals can enter the human body is the thickness of the skin. Digestion Digestion is the process of breaking down the food or any substances we take in and absorb it into the body system. The substances can enter through the digestive system when the foods were contaminated. Contamination happens when worker prepare food without washing hands. Also food can be contaminated then the food was eaten in the workplace where hazardous substances are present.  Thank you 