Fishy business. The Social Impact of SST.pdf - Act Now!

The adverse non-immune (toxic) and immune (allergic) reactions to seafood are the result ofexposure to the seafood itself (muscle and connective tissue, exoskeleton, blood, endolymph fishjuice, skin, skin slime/mucin, entrails) or to various non-seafood components present in theproduct.Aerosolisation of the seafood during processing has been identified as a potential high riskactivity for immunological sensitisation by high molecular weight proteins, respiratorysymptoms, non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and work related asthma. Processesinclude degutting, heading, and cooking/boiling of fish, mincing of seafood, fishmealmilling/bagging, and cleaning of the processing line and storage tanks with high pressuredwater. Despite high levels of automation in larger workplaces, workers may still be at high riskof developing health problems due to inadequate and poorly designed local exhaust ventilationsystems. There is great variability of exposure to bioaerosols with allergen concentrationsranging from 2 ng/m 3 in a fish market to 1000 ng/m 3 in a salmon processing plant. Wetprocessing activities (grading, gutting, packing fish, automated gutting machine) in salmonfilleting plants appear to produce higher particulate (respirable fraction) concentrations than dryactivities (fish butchery, packing in cold store and box store). Consistently high mean fishantigen concentrations (thoracic fraction) have been detected in fishmeal loading and baggingactivities (>100 ng/m 3 ) compared to fish canning activities in South African workplacesprocessing anchovy and pilchard fish respectively. Fishmeal operations also producedconsistently increased levels of endotoxin (>50 endotoxin units (EU)/m 3 or ~5 ng/m 3 ). While nothreshold limit values currently exist for exposure to fish or other seafoodallergens, a level of 50EU/m 3 has been proposed for endotoxin related health effects.Occupational dermal exposure occurs mainly as a result of unprotected handling of various fishand their products at various stages in the production process. Fish juice contains high molecularweight proteins, biogenic amines, histamine and cadaverine, degradation compounds in old fish,and digestive enzymes (pepsin and trypsin). The major skin manifestations associated withexposure are contact urticaria and eczematous contact dermatitis of various types. Contact withthe proteinacious fish material causes a chronic recurrent dermatitis commonly known as proteincontact dermatitis (PCD). At least 75% of eczematous dermatitis cases are however of an irritantnature due to contact with water and products in fish juice. Other chemical agents (handcleaners, soaps, detergents) used by workers also cause an irritant contact dermatitis.Biochemical sensitisers (for example, garlic, onion, spices, mustard) added to seafood produce adelayed allergic contact dermatitis.Measures to protect workersPrimary preventive measures are key to minimising exposure to workplace hazards that result inoccupational injuries or diseases. These include surveillance of exposures, injuries, anddiseases; analysis of surveillance data to assess risk and identify trends; control of workplacehazards through engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and administrativeprocedures; and education and training programmes for workers to ensure adequate precautions.The control of exposure to physical hazards such as excessive noise and cold temperature isstandard to any type of industry. Primary preventive measures for excessive noise exposureamong cannery and fishmeal operators require the institution of hearing conservationprogrammes. These encompass engineering controls such as enclosure of the source to reducelevels below 85dBA; demarcation of noise zones and sign posting; wearing of hearing protective201