Arhiv Za Higijenu Rada I Toksikologiju

Our medical research library holds 6 studies published in Arhiv Za Higijenu Rada I Toksikologiju (2007–2015). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 6 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

About the journal

• Publisher: Institut za medicinska istraz̆ivanja i medicinu rada
• Published: 1956 to the present, Croatia
• Language: Croatian, English
• ISSN: 0004-1254 (print), 1848-6312 (electronic)
• Continues: Arhiv Za Higijenu Rada
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• Accidental discovery of asbestos-related occupational pleural disease in unemployed carpenter: a healthcare safety net that needs mending. I. Manfredo. 2015;66(3):213-5. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Unemployed persons are often on the margins of the healthcare system and under the radar of safety and health organisations, as no systematic records are kept of occupational diseases caused by exposure at previous work place. Law in Slovenia requires that asbestos-related occupational diseases are verified by establishing the causal relationship between exposure at work and its effect on the worker. This report describes a case of verifying occupational pleural disease in an unemployed carpenter who was referred for consultation with occupational health specialist as part of the regular procedure for the unemployed registered at the Employment Service of Slovenia. At the consultation it turned out that the carpenter had been exposed to asbestos when he worked as a teenage apprentice. The diagnosis of the bilateral pleural disease and asbestosis was confirmed by X-ray and high-resolution computed tomography. Because he had no record of exposure in that period, we analysed his past working environment for minerals and found chrysotile in all asbestos board samples. The case was presented to an interdisciplinary committee, which verified his disease as occupational. This case points to the need of adopting guidelines for occupational health specialists providing counsel to the national employment service so that the number of unrecorded occupational diseases is minimised and their treatment is covered by the state.

• Mesothelioma risk associated with asbestos production in Slovenia. M. Vudrag, T.K. Rihtar, M. Vegnuti. 2010;61(1):45-52. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The aim of this study was to assess malignant mesothelioma morbidity due to exposure to asbestos in a population living in districts Nova Gorica and Tolmin (49,850 people) near the asbestos manufacturing village Anhovo (Slovenia) and to compare it with the entire Slovene population (1,949,750 people). Crude rates per 100,000 people were calculated from the total number of mesotheliomas, and risk assessment in the studied vs. total population was based on 23 years worth of data. Time series data on mesothelioma cases were also processed as a forecast of new cases by 2010.The crude incidence of mesothelioma per 100,000 individuals for all of Slovenia was 21.4, while for the Nova Gorica district including the village Anhovo it is 170.2 and for the Tolmin district 60.9. The probability of a mesothelioma case in the studied population was 8.5 times the probability of the same diagnosis in the whole of Slovenia. Over 23 years, 28% of all mesothelioma cases in Slovenia were diagnosed in the studied population, which makes only 2.5% of the total Slovene population.The outbreak of asbestosis and mesothelioma epidemics in the studied population is associated with manufacture of asbestos products in the local factory from 1922 to 1996.

2000s

• Interobserver variations in diagnosing asbestosis according to the ILO classification. I. Perić, K. Novak, I. Barisić, et al. 2009;60(2):191-5. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Inhalation of asbestos fibres leads to asbestosis of the pleura and the lung, with possible progression to lung cancer and malignant pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma. Asbestosis remains difficult to diagnose, especially in its early stages. The most important role in its diagnosis is that of chest radiographs. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to address interobserver variations in interpreting chest radiographs in asbestos workers, which remain to be an issue, despite improvements in the International Labour Office (ILO) classification system. In our ten-year study, we investigated 318 workers occupationally exposed to asbestos, and in 210 workers with diagnosed asbestos-related changes we compared interpretations of chest radiographs according to ILO by two independent radiologists. The apparent degree of interobserver variation in classifying lung fibrosis was 26.66% for the diameter of changes and 42.2% for the profusion of the changes. In cases with diffuse pleural thickening, the interobserver variation using ILO procedures was 34.93%. This investigation raises the issue of standardisation and objectivity of interpretation of asbestosis according to the ILO classification system. This study has revealed a significant disagreement in the estimated degree of pleural and parenchymal asbestos pulmonary disease. This is why we believe high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) should also be used as a part of international classification.

• Asbestosis and catalase genetic polymorphism. A. Franko, V. Dolzan, N. Arnerić, et al. 2008;59(4):233-40. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Catalase (CAT) is part of the enzymatic defense system against reactive oxygen species (ROS), known to be involved in the pathogenesis of asbestosis. This study investigates whether CAT -262 C>T genetic polymorphism influences the risk of asbestosis in workers occupationally exposed to asbestos.The nested case-control study included 262 cases with asbestosis and 265 controls with no asbestos-related disease. Data on cumulative asbestos exposure and smoking were available. A real-time PCR assay was introduced for genotyping CAT -262 C>T promoter polymorphism.A slightly elevated risk of asbestosis was observed in subjects with the CAT -262 TT genotype compared to others (OR=1.36, CI 0.70-2.62). This risk did not change substantially after adjustment by sex, age, and smoking, but the involvement of cumulative asbestos exposure changed the OR to 1.91 (CI 0.93-3.91). These findings indicate that the CAT -262 TT genotype may be slightly associated with an increased risk of asbestosis. No synergistic effect was found between cumulative asbestos exposure and the CAT -262 TT genotype, but cumulative asbestos exposure acted as a confounder. These results are an important contribution to understanding the interactions between genetic and environmental factors that may modify the risk of asbestosis.

• An experiment to develop conversion factors to standardise measurements of airborne asbestos. M. Dodic-Fikfak. 2007;58(2):179-85. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Various researchers and agencies recommend different conversion factors for different asbestos exposures. The aim of this study was to develop conversion factors from particles per cm3 (p cm(-3)) to fibres per cm3 (f cm(-3)) and from mg m(-3) to f cm(-3). More than 1000 exposure measurements were available in the Slovenian asbestos-cement factory Salonit Anhovo. Three types of measurement of asbestos concentrations in the air were used: a konimeter measuring p cm-3, a gravimetric method measuring mg m-3 and a membrane filter method measuring f cm-3. Operation-specific conversion factors among these methods were developed. One conversion factor was obtained for asbestos-pipe-dry jobs (4.7) and one for asbestos-sheet-dry jobs (1.6). Only one conversion factor (0.8) was used for asbestos-cement-pipe-wet and asbestos-cement-pipe-dry jobs. For asbestos cement sheets, two conversion factors were obtained (0.3 and 1.2). The development of five different conversion factors made it possible to calculate cumulative exposure to asbestos from historical data and to decrease exposure misclassification.

• Dynamics of the lung function in asbestos pleural disease. I. Perić, D. Arar, I. Barisić, et al. 2007;58(4):407-12. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  As a rule, asbestosis is a disease of workers who are occupationally exposed to inhalation of asbestos dust, leaving permanent alterations on the lung parenchyma or pleura. In our ten-year study, we investigated 318 workers with pleural asbestosis from whom we took medical history which included occupational exposure to asbestos, radiological examinations and lung function, which is mandatory for the diagnosis and the follow up of the disease. We analysed functional parameters such as forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and intermediate forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75% (FEF25%-75%). In addition, we investigated the predicted values of functional parameters according to smoking and non-smoking habits. We found a significant reduction in vital capacity, particularly in smokers after 25 years of exposure to asbestos. During the first 15 years, values of vital capacity on the group basis remained inside the 80% of the normal values and were not significant for assessing the dynamics of the lung function. To better assess the effects of occupational asbestos exposure, it is necessary to interpret lung function data not only on the group basis, but also for each subject individually.

Browse every journal in the library or the library by type of article, or return to medical research.