Hand dermatitis and allergic patch test reactions caused by nickel in electroplaters

A worksite survey was conducted in all 38 Finnish electroplating plants. All workers ( n =163) who worked with nickel plating (bath workers, hangers and solution makers) were interviewed with a questionnaire about symptoms of nickel dermatitis, hand dermatitis, and about protective measures, atopy, etc. Patch testing with nickel sulfate was done with the TRUE Test^TM method. All the workers, 94 men and 69 women, answered the questionnaire. The mean age of women was 41.1 years, and of men 43.1 years, respectively. Men had longer occupational exposure to nickel (14 years) than women (10 years). Most workers used protective gloves. 35% of women and 30% of men reported present or past hand dermatosis. 19% reported a history of atopic dermatitis. 15% of women ( n = 8) and 4% ( n = 2) of men had an allergic patch test reaction to nickel sulfate. 70% of those with an allergic patch test reaction to nickel reported past or present hand eczema. The prevalence of nickel allergy among the electroplaters was similar to that of patients in patch test clinics in Finland. An allergic patch test reaction to nickel sulfate does not necessarily oblige an electroplater to change jobs.     

Chemometrics models for assessment of oxidative stress risk in chrome-electroplating workers

Oxidative stress is the main cause of hexavalant chromium-induced damage in chrome electroplating workers. The main goal of this study is toxicity analysis and the possibility of toxicity risk categorizing in the chrome electroplating workers based on oxidative stress parameters as prognostic variables. We assessed blood chromium levels and biomarkers of oxidative stress such as lipid peroxidation, thiol (SH) groups and antioxidant capacity of plasma. Data were subjected to principle component analysis (PCA) and artificial neuronal network (ANN) to obtain oxidative stress pattern for chrome electroplating workers. Blood chromium levels increased from 4.42?ppb to 10.6?ppb. Induction of oxidative stress was observed by increased in lipid peroxidation (22.38?±?10.47?μM versus 14.74?±?4.82?μM, p?p?p?electroplaters. The result showed multivariate modeling can be interpreted as the induced biochemical toxicity in the workers exposed to hexavalent chromium. Different occupation groups were assessed on the basis of risk level of oxidative stress which could further justify proceeding engineering control measures.