BREAD AND PASTRY PRODUCTION - Kapitolyo High School

The effect that occupation may have on a worker's health is dependent on the
exposure (expressed quantitatively) to relevant agents, and on host factors. Taking a history
is often very important in identifying relevant exposures and linking them to ill-health. The
concept of "cumulative exposure" i.e. a quantitative measure of the intensity of exposure and
the duration of exposure is important, since generally it is the main determinant of risk.
Health may be harmed by occupational exposures in many different ways, and practically
any organ system can be affected.
Some examples follow - (starting with the lungs and skin, the organs of first contact for
most chemical occupational exposures).
Asthma e.g. from glutaraldehyde in health care workers, (the image shows a hospital
radiographer loading film processing chemicals, through a closed system, since emanations
of sulphur dioxide or of glutaraldehyde can cause asthmatic symptoms). Other causes of
asthma may include flour, or other agents in bakeries, or di-isocyanates in twin-pack spray
painting.
Allergic alveolitis (e.g. Farmer's lung from fungal spores)
Pneumononiosis (e.g. silicosis caused by inhaling quartz)
Cancer (e.g. from asbestos inhalation)
Musculoskeletal
Tenosynovitis and similar conditions
Back pain from manual handling
Nervous and Mental
Peripheral neuropathy (e.g. caused by lead or n-hexane)
Nerve deafness induced by noise
Mental ill-health (e.g. caused by stress, or by chemical exposures such as mercury)
Blood/Marrow
Anemia (e.g. caused by lead, which may impair the synthesis of normal hemoglobin).
A plastic anemia may be caused by high exposures to benzene
Leukemia (a cancer of certain white blood cells) caused by benzene.
Genitourinary and Endocrine
Kidney damage caused by some solvent exposures, or by cadmium
Bladder cancer e.g. caused by beta naphthylamine, or compounds of similar
structure (generally aromatic amines, with an aromatic group in the 'para' position to
the amine)
Infertility caused by some chemical exposures e.g. male infertility caused by DBCP
(dibromochloropropane). A range of chemicals have been implicated in the potential
BREAD AND PASTRY PRODUCTION NC II
K to 12 – Technology and Livelihood Education 76
76
What Do You Need To Know?
Read the Information Sheet 2.2 very well then find out how much you can
remember and how much you learned by doing Self-check 2.2.
EFFECTS OF HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE