Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Research Article

Evaluation of the dermatologic life quality among cleanroom workers in a secondary battery factory: Jae Jung Cheon, Jun Young Uhm, Gu Hyeok Kang, Eun Gye Kang, Soo Young Kim, Seong Sil Chang; Ann Occup Environ Med 2016;28:39. Published online September 2, 2016; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-016-0125-0

Background

Cleanroom air is extremely dry, as it is maintained within 1 % of relative humidity. Few studies have assessed the dermatologic life quality of workers in ultralow-humidity environments. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers using the Skindex-29, compared to those of non-cleanroom workers.

Methods

Study participants were 501 cleanroom workers and 157 non-cleanroom workers from a secondary battery factory, who underwent an employee health examination at a single university hospital from September 2014 to September 2015. Results of the self-administered Skindex-29, and McMonnies questionnaire were analyzed. Other information and disease history were also collected during physician's medical examination. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed.

Results

The Skindex-29 score was significantly higher in cleanroom workers than in non-cleanroom workers for all domains, Symptom (16.0 ± 15.9 vs. 6.3 ± 10.2, p < 0.001), Emotion (11.3 ± 17.4 vs. 2.5 ± 7.4, p < 0.001), Function (5.2 ± 11.1 vs. 1.6 ± 4.0, p < 0.001), and Overall (10.8 ± 13.4 vs. 3.5 ± 6.2, p < 0.001). The Skindex-29 score of cleanroom workers was similar to that of patients with skin diseases such as psoriasis, other dermatitis, corns, alopecia etc. Among the cleanroom workers, 37 workers had one or more skin diseases.

Among the risk factors, ‘working at cleanroom’, ‘possessing skin disease’ and ‘McMonnies score’ had significant strong correlations with Skindex-29 score, meanwhile age, sex, smoking, drinking and exercise had weak correlations with it.

‘Working at cleanroom’ and ‘possessing skin disease’ had highest odds ratios with overall 14.0 (C.I.: 5.9–33.1) and 13.4 (C.I.: 4.5–29.2), and the lowest odds ratios with function domain 3.5(C.I.: 1.7–7.1) and 4.5(C.I.: 2.1–9.5), respectively. The McMonnies score had the highest odds ratio with overall, 6.9(C.I.: 4.5–10.8) and lowest odd ratio with emotion domain 4.2 (C.I.: 2.7–6.4).

Conclusions

Dermatologic life quality among cleanroom workers in the secondary battery factory is shown to be lower than that among non-cleanroom workers in this study. The study suggests that the Skindex-29 may provide helpful information on the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers. Therefore, regarding evaluation of dermatologic life quality using Skindex-29, preventive care is necessary for cleanroom workers in ultralow humidity environment.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Association Between Shift Work and Clean Room Environment on Self-reported Premenstrual Symptoms and Menstrual Pain in Taiwan
Su-Ying Tsai
Safety and Health at Work.2024; 15(3): 278. CrossRef

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Case Report

Acute liver injury in two workers exposed to chloroform in cleanrooms: a case report: Young Joong Kang, Jungho Ahn, Yang-In Hwang; Ann Occup Environ Med 2014;26:49. Published online November 4, 2014; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-014-0049-5

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

We report 2 cases of hepatotoxicity in cleanroom workers due to high retained chloroform air concentrations. The women, aged 34 and 41 years, who had been working in a medical endoscopic device manufacturer as cleanroom workers for approximately 40–45 days suffered severe liver damage. Two measured time-weighted averages of the chloroform concentration in the air in the cleanroom were 82.74 and 64.24 ppm, which are more than 6 times the legal occupational exposure limit in Korea. Only 7% of the cleanroom air was newly introduced from outside. The clinical courses of these cases and workplace inspection, led us to conclude that both cases of hepatotoxicity were caused by chloroform exposure.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity evaluation of chloroform using Vicia faba roots
Xue Li, Ang Li, Ming Zhang, Tianpeng Gao
Toxicology and Industrial Health.2023; 39(10): 603. CrossRef
Acute liver injury in a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patient with chloroform exposure: a case report
Yosuke Suehiro, Takuro Uchida, Masataka Tsuge, Eisuke Murakami, Daiki Miki, Tomokazu Kawaoka, Michio Imamura, Hiroshi Aikata, Koji Arihiro, Shiro Oka
Clinical Journal of Gastroenterology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
A case report of toxic hepatitis caused by chloroform in automotive parts manufacturer coating process
Jong Hyun Hwang, Jung Il Kim
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Exposure to organic solvents and hepatotoxicity
Cristiano Brauner, Dvora Joveleviths, Mário R. Álvares-da-Silva, Norma Marroni, Silvia Bona, Elizângela Schemitt, Raissa Nardi
Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A.2020; 55(10): 1173. CrossRef
Chronic, Recreational Chloroform-Induced Liver Injury
Emily A. Minor, Mackenzie S. Newman, Justin T. Kupec
Case Reports in Hepatology.2018; 2018: 1. CrossRef
3-methyadenine attenuates chloroform-induced hepatotoxicity via autophagy activation
Lei WANG, Xiankui LI, Cai CHEN
Biomedical Research.2018; 39(2): 87. CrossRef
Chloroform ingestion causing severe gastrointestinal injury, hepatotoxicity and dermatitis confirmed with plasma chloroform concentrations
Dushan Jayaweera, Shawkat Islam, Naren Gunja, Chris Cowie, James Broska, Latesh Poojara, Michael S. Roberts, Geoffrey K. Isbister
Clinical Toxicology.2017; 55(2): 147. CrossRef

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