Cargando…
Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing occupational and environmental health issue around the globe. E-waste recycling is a green industry of emerging importance, especially in low-and middle-income countries where much of this recycling work is performed, and where many people’s livelihoods depend...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2016
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730531/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26797626 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010140 |
_version_ | 1782412421377294336 |
---|---|
author | Burns, Katrina N. Sun, Kan Fobil, Julius N. Neitzel, Richard L. |
author_facet | Burns, Katrina N. Sun, Kan Fobil, Julius N. Neitzel, Richard L. |
author_sort | Burns, Katrina N. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing occupational and environmental health issue around the globe. E-waste recycling is a green industry of emerging importance, especially in low-and middle-income countries where much of this recycling work is performed, and where many people’s livelihoods depend on this work. The occupational health hazards of e-waste recycling have not been adequately explored. We performed a cross-sectional study of noise exposures, heart rate, and perceived stress among e-waste recycling workers at a large e-waste site in Accra, Ghana. We interviewed 57 workers and continuously monitored their individual noise exposures and heart rates for up to 24 h. More than 40% of workers had noise exposures that exceeded recommended occupational (85 dBA) and community (70 dBA) noise exposure limits, and self-reported hearing difficulties were common. Workers also had moderate to high levels of perceived stress as measured via Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, and reported a variety of symptoms that could indicate cardiovascular disease. Noise exposures were moderately and significantly correlated with heart rate (Spearman’s ρ 0.46, p < 0.001). A mixed effects linear regression model indicated that a 1 dB increase in noise exposure was associated with a 0.17 increase in heart rate (p-value = 0.01) even after controlling for work activities, age, smoking, perceived stress, and unfavorable physical working conditions. These findings suggest that occupational and non-occupational noise exposure is associated with elevations in average heart rate, which may in turn predict potential cardiovascular damage. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4730531 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-47305312016-02-11 Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers Burns, Katrina N. Sun, Kan Fobil, Julius N. Neitzel, Richard L. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing occupational and environmental health issue around the globe. E-waste recycling is a green industry of emerging importance, especially in low-and middle-income countries where much of this recycling work is performed, and where many people’s livelihoods depend on this work. The occupational health hazards of e-waste recycling have not been adequately explored. We performed a cross-sectional study of noise exposures, heart rate, and perceived stress among e-waste recycling workers at a large e-waste site in Accra, Ghana. We interviewed 57 workers and continuously monitored their individual noise exposures and heart rates for up to 24 h. More than 40% of workers had noise exposures that exceeded recommended occupational (85 dBA) and community (70 dBA) noise exposure limits, and self-reported hearing difficulties were common. Workers also had moderate to high levels of perceived stress as measured via Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, and reported a variety of symptoms that could indicate cardiovascular disease. Noise exposures were moderately and significantly correlated with heart rate (Spearman’s ρ 0.46, p < 0.001). A mixed effects linear regression model indicated that a 1 dB increase in noise exposure was associated with a 0.17 increase in heart rate (p-value = 0.01) even after controlling for work activities, age, smoking, perceived stress, and unfavorable physical working conditions. These findings suggest that occupational and non-occupational noise exposure is associated with elevations in average heart rate, which may in turn predict potential cardiovascular damage. MDPI 2016-01-19 2016-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4730531/ /pubmed/26797626 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010140 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Burns, Katrina N. Sun, Kan Fobil, Julius N. Neitzel, Richard L. Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title | Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title_full | Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title_fullStr | Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title_full_unstemmed | Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title_short | Heart Rate, Stress, and Occupational Noise Exposure among Electronic Waste Recycling Workers |
title_sort | heart rate, stress, and occupational noise exposure among electronic waste recycling workers |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730531/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26797626 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010140 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT burnskatrinan heartratestressandoccupationalnoiseexposureamongelectronicwasterecyclingworkers AT sunkan heartratestressandoccupationalnoiseexposureamongelectronicwasterecyclingworkers AT fobiljuliusn heartratestressandoccupationalnoiseexposureamongelectronicwasterecyclingworkers AT neitzelrichardl heartratestressandoccupationalnoiseexposureamongelectronicwasterecyclingworkers |