Background

Styrene is one of the aromatic compounds used in acetonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) producing petrochemicals, which has an impact on health of workers. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the health risks of styrene emitted from the petrochemical industry in Iran.

Methods

Air samples were collected based on NIOSH 1501 method. The samples were analyzed by the Varian-cp3800 gas chromatograph. Finally, risk levels of styrene's health effects on employees were assessed by the quantitative method of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the semiquantitative way by the Singapore Occupational Safety and Health Association.

Results

Based on the results, the employees had the highest average exposure to styrene vapors (4.06$\times {10}^{-1}mg.{(kg-day)}^{-1}$) in the polybutadiene latex (PBL) unit. Therefore, the most top predictors of cancer and non-cancer risk were 2.3$\times {10}^{-4}$ and 7.26$\times {10}^{-1}$, respectively. Given that the lowest average exposure (1.5$\times {10}^{-2}mg.{(kg-day)}^{-1}$) was in the dryer unit, the prediction showed a moderate risk of cancer (0.8$\times {10}^{-6}$) and non-cancer (2.3$\times {10}^{-3}$) for the employees. The EPA method also predicted that there would be a definite cancer risk in 16% and a probable risk in 76% of exposures. However, according to the semiquantitative approach, the rate of risk was at the “low” level for all staff. The results showed that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the units in exposure and health risk of styrene (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Given the high risk of styrene's health effects, appropriate control measures are required to reduce the exposure level.

中文翻译：

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石化行业苯乙烯职业接触的定量和半定量健康风险评估

背景

苯乙烯是用于生产石化产品的乙腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯 (ABS) 的芳香族化合物之一，对工人的健康有影响。因此，本研究旨在调查伊朗石化行业排放的苯乙烯的健康风险。

方法

根据 NIOSH 1501 方法收集空气样品。样品通过 Varian-cp3800 气相色谱仪进行分析。最后，通过美国环境保护署（US EPA）的定量方法和新加坡职业安全与健康协会的半定量方法评估了苯乙烯对员工健康影响的风险等级。

结果

根据结果​​，员工接触苯乙烯蒸气的平均暴露量最高（4.06$\times {10}^{-1}米G.{(ķG-d\mathrm{一种}\mathrm{是的})}^{-1}$) 在聚丁二烯胶乳 (PBL) 单元中。因此，癌症和非癌症风险的最高预测因子是 2.3$\times {10}^{-4}$和 7.26$\times {10}^{-1}$， 分别。鉴于最低平均曝光率（1.5$\times {10}^{-2}米G.{(ķG-d\mathrm{一种}\mathrm{是的})}^{-1}$) 在干燥器单元中，预测显示患癌症的风险中等（0.8$\times {10}^{-6}$) 和非癌症 (2.3$\times {10}^{-3}$) 为员工。EPA 方法还预测，有 16% 的人有明确的癌症风险，76% 的人有可能的风险。然而，根据半定量方法，所有员工的风险率都处于“低”水平。结果表明， 单位间苯乙烯暴露量和健康风险存在显着差异（ p <0.05）（ p  <0.05）。

结论

鉴于苯乙烯对健康的高风险影响，需要采取适当的控制措施来降低接触水平。