Organic and Inorganic Mercury in Biological Samples of Flouresecent Lamp Industries Workers and Health Risks

Objective The present study aims to investigate the concentrations of Hg and its aspects methyl mercury(Me-Hg) and inorganic mercury(I-Hg) in the biological samples(BSs) of fluorescent lamp industries workers(FLIWs).Methodology Different BSs including red blood cells(RBCs),plasma,urine,hair and nails were collected from the workers exposed to Hg and unexposed persons were selected as control group to measure both the T-Hg concentration as well as its species in different biological samples through quantitative analysis.Health data was collected through questionnaire survey.Results The mean concentrations of T-Hg(31.9 μg/L),Me-Hg(27.7 μg/L),and I-Hg(5.36 μg/L) in RBCs were found significantly(P 0.001) higher among the workers(n = 40) as compared to the control group(n = 40).Similarly the mean Hg concentrations in plasma,urine,hair and nails were also significantly higher among the workers than the control group.The statistical relation between Hg concentration and demographic characteristics observed that workers experience and fish consumption has increased the Hg concentration while age,weight and smoking found no significant effect on Hg concentration in the BSs.Conclusion The study observed that the workers were highly exposed to high concentration of Hg and they are at a high health risk.     

Humanitarianism from Below: Sowa Rigpa,the Traditional Pharmaceutical Industry,and Global Health

ABSTRACT

In this article I explore, for the first time, the relationship between Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and global health, tracing “the global” in ethical discourses and pharmaceutical innovation practices of Tibetan medical practitioners. I argue that Sowa Rigpa’s engagement with the world and its global health activities outside China can be understood as a form of “humanitarianism from below,” while its industrialization in China aligns with global health in different ways. In providing new insights into recent developments of Sowa Rigpa, I aim to decenter the notion of humanitarianism and contribute to a broader understanding of global health.     

大鼠气管上皮细胞体内—体外转化模型的研究

本研究建立了大鼠气管上皮细胞体内－体外转化模型，大鼠气管内滴注苯并芘，三天后处死大鼠，消化气管上皮细胞，接种于无血清完全培养基。细胞形成集落后，换为选择培养基继续培养五周，统计转化率。结果显示，２５ｍｇ／ｋｇ和５０ｍｇ／ｋｇ的苯并芘可诱导大鼠气管上皮细胞转化及微核增加，用同样方法研究了煤焦沥青提取物，结果表明，剂量为８ｍｇ／ｋｇ和２５ｍｇ／ｋｇ的煤焦沥青提取物能明显诱导大鼠气管上皮细胞转化。     

平时罕见,特殊情况下发生的几种伤病

一些损伤和疾病平时罕见，特殊情况下可以发生，造成严重危害。特殊情况主要包括严重事故、灾害、战争、恐怖主义活动以及特殊环境与特殊作业的危害等。本阐述了现代战争中发生的贫铀武器伤害、燃料空气炸弹伤害、微波武器伤害和战时精神疾病；可能源于恐怖主义活动的炭疽、天花；严重事故性伤害中的核事故、化学事故和煤矿事故伤害；严重灾害中的地震、海难(海战)落海伤害。中介绍了这些伤病的发生情况、伤害特点与医学救治。     

Biological markers as indicators of exposure and pneumoconiotic risk: Prospective study

This research is designed to evaluate a number of biological markers to estimate harmful exposure on coal miners from different mining regions in France and to relate the outcome to differences in prevalence of coal worker pneumoconiosis (CWP) between these regions. Eight epidemiological groups of active and ex-miners (smokers and non-smokers) have been selected in the French collieries (North, Lorraine and Provence) according to their occupational and pneumoconiotic status. The following biomarkers have been evaluated: cellularity of sputum, elementary analysis of particles in TEM/EDAX, plasma neutral metalloendo peptidase elastase type (NMEP), leucocyte elastase (HLE), fibronectin (FN) and elastin peptides. Pulmonary alveolitis, expressed by sputum cellularity, is different between active workers groups but not related to the general background of pneumoconiosis prevalence in the French collieries. In the plasma parameters, fibronectin, HLE and NMEP significantly increased in all groups of coal mine workers as compared to the control group, except for fibronectin parameter in Lorraine collierie. The degree of increase of these parameters allow us to discriminate the different groups and suggest that plasma FN, HLE and NMEP may be considered as biological markers of chronic inhalation of coal mine dust particles. The decrease of elastin peptides level in the Lorraine group alone suggests a specific alteration of elastin metabolism. These parameters were not related to the development of pneumoconiosis and its degree of severity.     

10个钨矿职工死因分析

对中南地区10个钨矿1972—1974年入矿(工龄至少1年)的在册职工28453人进行了队列研究。队列成员追访至1989年,死亡2870人,比全国居民死亡率计算的期望值略高(SMR=1.15,95％CI=1.11—1.19);主要是非恶性呼吸道疾病,特别是尘肺(SMR=66.79,95％CI=59.65—73.68)以及与呼吸道疾病相关的肺心病明显超高(SMR=8.19,95％CI=7.42—9.02),比全国居民死亡率高5倍。癌症死亡数在全死因中虽占第一位,但仅鼻咽癌轻度超高(SMR=1.73,95％CI=1.23—2.37),而肺癌死亡率明显偏低(SMR=0.53)。研究结果不支持矽肺与肺癌病因学相关的假说。     

Transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country: Lessons from the Japan–South Korea experience

Many corporations move their manufacturing facilities or technologies from developed to developing countries. Stringent regulations have made it costly for industries to operate in developed, industrialized countries. In addition, labor costs are high in these countries, and there is increasing awareness among the general public of the health risks associated with industry. The relocation of hazardous industries to developing countries is driven by economic considerations: high unemployment, a cheaper labor force, lack of regulation, and poor enforcement of any existing regulations make certain countries attractive to business. The transfer of certain industries from Japan to Korea has also brought both documented occupational diseases and a new occupational disease caused by chemicals without established toxicities. Typical examples of documented occupational diseases are carbon disulfide poisoning in the rayon manufacturing industry, bladder cancer in the benzidine industry, and mesothelioma in the asbestos industry. A new occupational disease due to a chemical without established toxicities is 2‐bromopropane poisoning. These examples suggest that counter‐measures are needed to prevent the transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country. Corporate social responsibility should be emphasized, close inter‐governmental collaboration is necessary and cooperation among non‐governmental organizations is helpful. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:625–632, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

煤矿尘肺的尘斑气肿

对８６例煤工尸检肺组织呼吸性细支气和及所属肺泡道发生的尘斑气肿进行了观察。前述部位不同程度煤尘沉着构成尘斑或尘灶。尘灶系呼吸性细支气管壁及肺泡间隔内煤尘沉着不断增多，气腔壁增厚，闭塞或靠扰融合而成。少数尘灶亦可由局灶性肺泡内煤尘细胞聚集填充所致尘斑或尘灶处伴发的肺气肿，意味着组织破坏，肺功能受损。因此，尘斑气肿和尘灶气肿具有同样涵义。     

大鼠肺泡巨噬细胞吞噬煤尘颗粒的实验研究

本实验用相差显微电影、溶酶体荧光定位和透射电镜等方法,研究了大鼠离体肺泡巨噬细胞吞噬煤尘的作用,并用二氧化矽和酵母菌作实验对照。结果表明,煤尘颗粒同二氧化矽类似,经过附着,迅速以吞噬体形式被摄入胞浆,而酵母菌呈典型的伪足包围和缓幔吞噬过程。实验证明,用吖啶橙作活细胞溶酶体定位是有效的。被标记的溶酶体发出强橙色荧光。当煤粒吞噬体进入胞浆后,常被多个溶酶体接触包围,形成次级溶酶体。电镜观察提示,煤尘可引起次级溶酶体膜的损害。     

煤矿工人上消化道疾病的现况研究

目的：探讨煤矿工人上消化道疾病的患病现况,方法：按照整群随机抽样的方法在山东兖州,河北开滦,辽宁铁法选取３０６人,以胃镜进行普查。结果：矿区工人总的上消化道疾病患病率为７７．８％,以红斑性胃炎为主,占各种上消化道疾病的４１．５％井下采煤和掘进作业工人的患病率高于井下其他作业工人,后者的患病率与井上工人的患病率一致,各矿区之间,以山东兖州的工人患病率最高,湖北开滦最低。结论 煤矿工人上消化道疾病患病