Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science (대한안전경영과학회지)

Korea Safety Management & Science (대한안전경영과학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Studies on the Health Status and Health Management Plan Using Health Check-up Index of Male Petroleum Refinery Workers in South Korea

한국 정유공장 남성 근로자의 만성질환 관련 지표를 이용한 유소견자 실태 확인 및 관리방안

  • Lee, June-Hee (Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Hospital)
  • 이준희 (순천향대학교 부속 서울병원 직업환경의학과)
  • Received : 2021.03.09
  • Accepted : 2021.06.11
  • Published : 2021.06.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The petroleum refinery industry handles a variety of complex chemical substances and employs a large number of people around the world. According to previous research, diseases caused by exposure to chemicals were quite common among workers in refineries until the 1980s. More recently, it is unusual for oil refinery workers to suffer from these serious diseases. The objective of this study was to identify the occurrence level of general diseases and any differences in lifestyle habits of workers in refineries in Korea compared with the general population. In this study, we used the results of health examinations from 2014 for workers at a large oil refinery in South Korea. In addition, based on the results of KNHANES from 2014 as representative of the population, hypertension, diabetes, anemia, hyperlipidemia, liver function abnormality, and kidney function abnormality were calculated using the standardized incidence rate. Hypertension showed a low result with an SIR of less than 1, but a high result in the case of abnormal liver function. The workers' occurrence rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, kidney dysfunction, and anemia were lower than those of ordinary salaried employees. however, their occurrence rate for abnormal liver function was markedly higher. In lifestyle habits, the smoking rate of workers was low while the alcohol consumption rate was quite high. This study has improved the understanding of the health status of workers in a large oil refinery in Korea, and has shown the impact of lifestyle habits related to the work environment on chronic diseases.

Keywords

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. (1989), Diesel and gasoline engine exhausts and some nitroarenes. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.
  2. W. W. Huebner, S. A. Robert, et al.(1997), "Mortality experience of a young petrochemical industry cohort: 1979-1992 follow-up study of US-based employees." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 39(10):970-982. https://doi.org/10.1097/00043764-199710000-00009
  3. B. J. Divine, C. M. Hartman, J. K. Wendt(1996), An updated report on the Texaco mortality study 1947-1993. Houston, TX: Texaco.
  4. M. N. Harandi, J. D. Kushnerick, H. Owen(1991), Petroleum refinery process and apparatus for the production of alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons from fuel gas and catalytic reformate. U.S. Patent No. 4,992,607.
  5. M. A. Mehlman(1992), "Dangerous and cancer-causing properties of products and chemicals in the oil refining and petrochemical industry: VIII. Health effects of motor fuels: Carcinogenicity of gasoline-Scientific update." Environmental Research, 59(1): 238-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-9351(05)80243-9
  6. J. P. W. Gilman(1962), "Metal carcinogenesis II. A study on the carcinogenic activity of cobalt, copper, iron, and nickel compounds." Cancer Research 22(2):158-162.
  7. J. Siemiatycki, et al.(2004), "Listing occupational carcinogens." Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(15):1447-1459. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7047
  8. R. Doll, L. G. Morgan, F. E. Speizer(1970), "Cancers of the lung and nasal sinuses in nickel workers." British Journal of Cancer, 24(4):623-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1970.76
  9. M. A. Mehlman, M. S. Legator(1991), "Dangerous and cancer-causing properties of products and chemicals in the oil refining and petrochemical industry-Part II: Carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and developmental toxicity of 1, 3-butadiene." Toxicology and Industrial Health, 7(3):207-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/074823379100700306
  10. M. T. Smith, R. M. Jones, A. H. Smith(2007), "Benzene exposure and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma." Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 16(3):385-391. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-1057
  11. P. E. Enterline(1974), "Respiratory cancer among chromate workers." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 16(8):523-526.
  12. P. Wilkinson, et al.(1999), "Lymphohaematopoietic malignancy around all industrial complexes that include major oil refineries in Great Britain." Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(9): 577-580. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.56.9.577
  13. T. Norseth(1980), "Cancer hazards caused by nickel and chromium exposure." Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A Current Issues, 6(5-6):1219-1227. https://doi.org/10.1080/15287398009529940
  14. E. Symanski, L. L. Kupper, S. M. Rappaport(1998), "Comprehensive evaluation of long-term trends in occupational exposure: Part 1. description of the database." Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55(5):300-309. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.55.5.300
  15. I. Lundberg, R. Milatou(1986), "Mortality and cancer incidence among Swedish paint industry workers with long-term exposure to organic solvents." Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 24(4):108-113. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.2170
  16. J. D. McLean, P. K. Kilpatrick(1997), "Effects of asphaltene solvency on stability of water-incrude-oil emulsions." Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 189(2):242-253. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1997.4807
  17. J. W. Anderson, et al.(1974), "Characteristics of dispersions and water-soluble extracts of crude and refined oils and their toxicity to estuarine crustaceans and fish." Marine Biology, 27(1):75-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394763
  18. J. Roma-Torres, et al.(2006), "Evaluation of genotoxicity in a group of workers from a petroleum refinery aromatics plant." Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, 604(1):19-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrgentox.2005.12.005
  19. B. Nemery(1990), "Metal toxicity and the respiratory tract." European Respiratory Journal, 3(2):202-219. https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.93.03020202
  20. R. A. Goyer, T. W. Clarkson(1996), "Toxic effects of metals." In C. D. Klaassen (Ed.), Casarett & Doull's toxicology. The basic science of poisons (5th ed). McGraw-Hill Health Professions Division, ISBN 71054766.
  21. L. Fishbein(1981), "Sources, transport and alterations of metal compounds: An overview. I. Arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, and nickel." Environmental Health Perspectives, 40:43-64. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.814043
  22. WHO(2000), "Benzene." In WHO (Eds.), Air quality guidelines. WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen.
  23. WHO(1993), Environmental health criteria 150: Benzene. World Health Organization, Geneva.
  24. M. T. Smith, L. Zhang(1998), "Biomarkers of leukemia: Benzene as a model." Environ. Health Persp., 106(Suppl. 4):937-946.
  25. R. Snyder(2000), "Overview of the toxicology of benzene." J. Toxicol. Environ. Health Part A, 61:339-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/00984100050166334
  26. D. A. Savitz, R. Moure(1984), "Cancer risk among oil refinery workers: A review of epidemiologic studies." Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 26(9):662-670.
  27. G. K. Raabe, K. W. Collingwood, O. Wong(1998), "An updated mortality study of workers at a petroleum refinery in Beaumont, Texas." American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 33(1):61-81. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199801)33:1<61::AID-AJIM8>3.0.CO;2-Z
  28. O. Wong, G. K. Raabe(2000), "A critical review of cancer epidemiology in the petroleum industry, with a meta-analysis of a combined database of more than 350,000 workers." Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 32(1):78-98. https://doi.org/10.1006/rtph.2000.1410
  29. J. Vlaanderen, et al.(2011), "Occupational benzene exposure and the risk of lymphoma subtypes: A meta-analysis of cohort studies incorporating three study quality dimensions." Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(2):159-167. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1002318
  30. K. D. Eum, et al.(2007), "Psychometric properties of the Korean version of the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire: A study in a petrochemical company." International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 80(8):653-661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-007-0174-3
  31. H. M. Kwon(2006), "The effectiveness of process safety management (PSM) regulation for chemical industry in Korea." Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 19(1):13-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2005.03.009
  32. J. M. Kim(2007), "The health effects of industrial noise." Journal of Korean society of Environmental Engineers, 29(2):131-137.
  33. Lee, June-Hee Studies on the health status according to the life style and working condition of petroleum refinery workers in South Korea (2012-2016). Diss. Graduate School, Yonsei University, 2017.