Evaluation Of Industrial Workplace Exposure To Metal Fumes Using Toenail As Bio-Indicator

Zainal Bakri, Siti Farhana and Hariri, Azian and Ismail, Marzuki and Muhamad Damanhuri, Amir Abdullah (2019) Evaluation Of Industrial Workplace Exposure To Metal Fumes Using Toenail As Bio-Indicator. International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 11 (5). pp. 133-139. ISSN 2229-838X

Text EVALUATION-OF-INDUSTRIAL-WORKPLACE-EXPOSURE-TO-METAL-FUMES-USING-TOENAIL-AS-BIOINDICATOR2019INTERNATIONAL-JOURNAL-OF-INTEGRATED-ENGINEERINGOPEN-ACCESS.PDF Download (283kB)

Abstract

The toxic gaseous generated from welding process contained heavy metals that induce various cancers and diseases. Exposure to this toxic fume is associated with the occurrence of lung cancer and worker that exposed to this situation is considered as a high-risk group. This study aims to investigate the amounts of heavy metals concentration in the breathing zone and toenail samples of 36 individuals from automotive related industries in Malaysia that were classified as an exposed group (welders) and non-exposed group (office workers) by cross-sectional research design. Personal air sample and mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filters were used to collect the welding fumes while toenail samples from all 10 toes of each subject for biomonitoring. Collected samples were digested, and analyzed to evaluate the levels of heavy metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Eleven heavy metals (Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Cu, As, Ag, and Pb) were measured in all samples; and results showed that the concentrations of Cr, Zn, As, Ag and Pb were significantly difference (P ≤ 0.05) for exposed and non-exposed groups. Furthermore, the metal fume exposure generated from different welding types in these three plant shows a similar exposure to the welders. Thus, more attention need to be considered to the working conditions of the exposed group, specifically on providing proper ventilation at the workplace as well as to provide a suitable protective personal devices.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Carcinogenic metal, Malaysia, Toenail biomarker, Welding fumes
Divisions:	Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Technology
Depositing User:	Sabariah Ismail
Date Deposited:	07 Dec 2020 15:04
Last Modified:	07 Dec 2020 15:04
URI:	http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/24490
Statistic Details:	View Download Statistic

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