The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the 2005 British Columbia Ministry of Health Smoking Cessation Mass Media Campaign on short-term smoking behavior.
National cross-sectional data are used with a quasi-experimental approach to test the impact of the campaign.
Findings indicate that prevalence and average number of cigarettes smoked per day deviated upward from trend for the rest of Canada (P = .08; P = .01) but not for British Columbia. They also indicate that British Columbia smokers in lower risk groups reduced their average daily consumption of cigarettes over and above the 1999-2004 trend (-2.23; P = .10), whereas smokers in the rest of Canada did not, and that British Columbia smokers in high-risk groups did not increase their average daily consumption of cigarettes over and above the 1999-2004 trend, whereas smokers in the rest of Canada did (2.97; P = .01).
The overall poorer performance of high-risk groups is attributed to high exposure to cigarette smoking, which reduces a smoker's chances of successful cessation. In particular, high-risk groups are by definition more likely to be exposed to smoking by peers, but are also less likely to work in workplaces with smoking bans, which are shown to have a substantial impact on prevalence. Results suggest that for mass media campaigns to be more effective with high-risk groups, they need to be combined with other incentives, and that more prolonged interventions should be considered.
The analysis of age features of prevalence of an arterial hypertensia in the basic professional groups of the coal-mining enterprises was carried out. In total 1575 workers of collieries and cuts of Kuzbas united in 9 professional groups participated in the research. The results of research demonstrated the distinctions of age structure in the professional groups, testifying about expressed professional senescence among workers of mines, which reveals itself in the decrease in relative density of persons of 50+ years. In these groups with the expressed professional senescence the decrease in relative density of persons with an arterial hypertensia--so-called effect of the "healthy worker", in turn, is observed.
The necessity of studying the impact of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the health status of the operation staff from power enterprises has stemmed from the improper prior significance being attached to this matter. The subjects of the investigations were operators' premises, work environment system, and operation staff. The intensity of the electrical and magnetic constituents of a 50-Hz EMF in the operation staff's workplaces, in the areas adjacent to 500- and 110-kVsubstation grounding systems, and in the flats of the approximate apartment houses where the workers lived was measured. Then their permissible cumulative daily exposure was calculated. Working arrangement was also assessed. The examinees' behavior was predicted in stress situations. This permitted a scientific rationale to be provided for protective measures against exposure to electromagnetic irradiations in productive and nonproductive conditions.
The article covers changes in occupational cardiovascular risk for workers of nonferrous,metallurgy. Findings are that exposure to noise up to 94 dB with length of service increases possible atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. With 5 years of service, risk of the predicted conditions increases by 40.5%. When occupational exposure lasts over 5 years, risk of arterial hypertension increases. A group of workers without exposure to occupational factors appeared to have no connection between length of service and metabolic syndrome and arterial hypertension. Risk evolution modelling proved that risk of functional disorders in nonferrous metallurgy workers becomes unacceptable after 5 years of service (cardiovascular disorders are critical).
We have conducted a study on working conditions and health status of petrochemical workers. The main hazardous factor of work environment and manufacture process has been found to be work environment air pollution caused by Class 2-3 hazards. Depending on the composition of the current complex of hazards, the manufacture workers comprise three groups determined by the impact of aromatic hydrocarbons, olefin oxides and their combinations. It has been shown that the combined impact of aromatic hydrocarbons and olefin oxides combination may produce a more pronounced hazardous impact on workers' health compared with the impact of aromatic hydrocarbons or olefin oxides taken separately. This may be due to the summing up of biological effects.
There was made the characterization of the health risk for workers' of pulp and paper industry, under the simultaneous effects of chemicals in the residential and working area. The main adverse effect of chemicals that pollute the air and work environment is related with the impact on the respiratory system. Under the successive exposure (ambient air--air in the workplace) in the adult population working at the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, the risk of occurrence of respiratory diseases (HI = 18.5) and individual carcinogenic risk (CR = 9.7 x 10(-3)) have been rated as high and constitute 86-99% of the total risk.
Having evaluated work conditions in sugar-beet seeds treatment with furadan, the authors justified use of an individual protective means for the workers. The recommendations are coveralls of nonwoven materials like Tyvek F, C that are resistant against concentrated and working solutions of furadan. To protect respiratory organs against furadan vapors and aerosols, one should use respirator of sorption filter half mask.
The aim of this study was to develop and test a tool for assessing urgency of indoor air quality (IAQ) measures. The condition of the 27 buildings were investigated and results were categorized. Statistical test studied the differences between the categories and the employees’ complaints about their work environment. To study the employees’ experiences of the work premises, a validated indoor air (IA) questionnaire was used. This study reveals a multifaceted problem: many factors affecting IAQ may also affect perceived IAQ, making it difficult to separate the impurity sources and ventilation system deficiencies affecting to employee experiences. An examination of the relationship between the categories and perceived IAQ revealed an association between the mould odour perceived by employees and mould detected by the researcher. A weak link was also found between the assessed categories and environmental complaints. However, we cannot make far-reaching conclusions regarding the assessed probability of abnormal IA exposure in the building on the basis of employee experiences. According to the results, categorising tool can partly support the assessment of the urgency for repairs when several factors that affect IAQ are taken into account.
The integral health indices (biological age, age-related individual physiological features during a long-term (during a shift) contact with occupational allergens and working factors, the body's wear rates, and functional adaptive processes under hazardous working conditions) were studied in workers having dangerous jobs.
