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From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde

The Prevention Technician in the Environment and Workplaces (PTEW) is a health professional who works in the identification, assessment, and management of risk in living and working places. The PTEW implements specific corrective actions at reducing exposure levels to chemicals such as formaldehyde....

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Autores principales: Pattavina, Fabio, Wachocka, Malgorzata, Tuti, Federica, Boninti, Federica, Santi, Riccardo, Grossi, Roberta, Laurenti, Patrizia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10140350/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37124772
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.960921
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author Pattavina, Fabio
Wachocka, Malgorzata
Tuti, Federica
Boninti, Federica
Santi, Riccardo
Grossi, Roberta
Laurenti, Patrizia
author_facet Pattavina, Fabio
Wachocka, Malgorzata
Tuti, Federica
Boninti, Federica
Santi, Riccardo
Grossi, Roberta
Laurenti, Patrizia
author_sort Pattavina, Fabio
collection PubMed
description The Prevention Technician in the Environment and Workplaces (PTEW) is a health professional who works in the identification, assessment, and management of risk in living and working places. The PTEW implements specific corrective actions at reducing exposure levels to chemicals such as formaldehyde. The aim of this report was to update the formaldehyde risk assessment document (RAD). The risk assessment process was divided into three steps as follows: (1) preliminary data collection, (2) an on-site visit to identify the use patterns and process, and (3) application of the algorithm to calculate the exposure levels of healthcare workers. In addition, with the introduction of closed-circuit systems, 23 devices were evaluated to identify possible airborne dispersion of formaldehyde. The algorithm was applied in 31 hospital units and the results allowed us to classify the staff in two levels of exposure for each hospital unit; healthcare workers were classified as “exposed” or “potentially exposed.” Most of the HCWs are categorized as potentially exposed, and only workers working in laboratories are considered to be exposed. The results showed that devices must be used properly according to the user manual. To increase the level of worker safety, we have proposed to introduce closed-circuit safe handling systems and keeping the duration and intensity of exposure at the lowest possible levels according to the “ALARA” principle. The assignment of the Italian PTEW is to achieve excellence in the levels of health and safety of patients and hospital workers by pursuing a shared mission: improving the quality of public health.
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spelling pubmed-101403502023-04-29 From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde Pattavina, Fabio Wachocka, Malgorzata Tuti, Federica Boninti, Federica Santi, Riccardo Grossi, Roberta Laurenti, Patrizia Front Public Health Public Health The Prevention Technician in the Environment and Workplaces (PTEW) is a health professional who works in the identification, assessment, and management of risk in living and working places. The PTEW implements specific corrective actions at reducing exposure levels to chemicals such as formaldehyde. The aim of this report was to update the formaldehyde risk assessment document (RAD). The risk assessment process was divided into three steps as follows: (1) preliminary data collection, (2) an on-site visit to identify the use patterns and process, and (3) application of the algorithm to calculate the exposure levels of healthcare workers. In addition, with the introduction of closed-circuit systems, 23 devices were evaluated to identify possible airborne dispersion of formaldehyde. The algorithm was applied in 31 hospital units and the results allowed us to classify the staff in two levels of exposure for each hospital unit; healthcare workers were classified as “exposed” or “potentially exposed.” Most of the HCWs are categorized as potentially exposed, and only workers working in laboratories are considered to be exposed. The results showed that devices must be used properly according to the user manual. To increase the level of worker safety, we have proposed to introduce closed-circuit safe handling systems and keeping the duration and intensity of exposure at the lowest possible levels according to the “ALARA” principle. The assignment of the Italian PTEW is to achieve excellence in the levels of health and safety of patients and hospital workers by pursuing a shared mission: improving the quality of public health. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-04-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10140350/ /pubmed/37124772 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.960921 Text en Copyright © 2023 Pattavina, Wachocka, Tuti, Boninti, Santi, Grossi and Laurenti. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Pattavina, Fabio
Wachocka, Malgorzata
Tuti, Federica
Boninti, Federica
Santi, Riccardo
Grossi, Roberta
Laurenti, Patrizia
From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title_full From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title_fullStr From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title_full_unstemmed From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title_short From hazard identification to risk assessment: The role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
title_sort from hazard identification to risk assessment: the role of the prevention technician in the carcinogenic risk assessment for formaldehyde
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10140350/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37124772
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.960921
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