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Occupational and environmental medicine
Research
Hearing loss in workers exposed to epoxy adhesives and noise: a cross-sectional study
  1. Hsiao-Yu Yang1,2,
  2. Ruei-Hao Shie3,
  3. Pau-Chung Chen1,2,4
  1. 1Department of Public Health and Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan
  2. 2Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  3. 3Green Energy & Environmental Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan
  4. 4Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Hsiao-Yu Yang; hyang{at}ntu.edu.tw

Abstract

Objectives Epoxy adhesives contain organic solvents and are widely used in industry. The hazardous effects of epoxy adhesives remain unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the risk of hearing loss among workers exposed to epoxy adhesives and noise.

Design Cross-sectional study.

Methods For this cross-sectional study, we recruited 182 stone workers who were exposed to both epoxy adhesives and noise, 89 stone workers who were exposed to noise only, and 43 workers from the administrative staff who had not been exposed to adhesives or noise. We obtained demographic data, occupational history and medical history through face-to-face interviews and arranged physical examinations and pure-tone audiometric tests. We also conducted walk-through surveys in the stone industry. A total of 40 representative noise assessments were conducted in 15 workplaces. Air sampling was conducted at 40 workplaces, and volatile organic compounds were analysed using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) TO-15 method.

Results The mean sound pressure level was 87.7 dBA (SD 9.9). The prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss was considerably increased in the stone workers exposed to epoxy adhesives (42%) compared with the stone workers who were not exposed to epoxy adhesives (21%) and the administrative staff group (9.3%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that exposure to epoxy adhesives significantly increased the risk of hearing loss between 2 and 6 kHz after adjusting for age. Significant interactions between epoxy adhesives and noise and hearing impairment were observed at 3, 4 and 6 kHz.

Conclusions Epoxy adhesives exacerbate hearing impairment in noisy environments, with the main impacts occurring in the middle and high frequencies.

  • noise-induced hearing loss
  • epoxy resins
  • volatile organic compounds
  • solvent

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010533

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