Chemical Exposure in the Plastics Industry (2020)
Workers in the industry based on fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP industry) are exposed to a mixture of fiberglass and organic solvents, mainly styrene and acetone.
Main content
This type of industry produces, among other things, plastic boats for recreational use, tanks for the offshore and aquaculture industries, and septic tanks. Styrene can cause acute and chronic health effects and is classified as possibly carcinogenic. Several patients from the FRP industry have also been diagnosed with chronic solvent syndrome in recent years. The main objective was to investigate the current exposure and uptake of styrene among workers in this industry. Styrene was measured in the breathing zone during the work shift, as well as styrene metabolites in urine before and after the work shift in the same individuals. Blood samples were also taken from the workers before and after the work shift to investigate any immune responses. Questionnaires were used to investigate the workers' health symptoms and knowledge of chemical exposure at work.
The workers' average exposure to both styrene and acetone was below the limit value in all production departments, but there were individual measurements that were very high. The correlation between styrene exposure via air and the measurements of biomarkers for styrene in urine shows that even among workers who reported using masks, the effectiveness of the masks in reducing styrene uptake varied greatly. For some, mask use did not reduce styrene uptake, while for others, it worked reasonably well.
The project was carried out from 2018-2020 by Bjørg Eli Hollund, Jorunn Kirkeleit, and Magne Bråtveit with funding from the Fund for Occupational Medicine Research at Circle K Norway.
Snezana Nedeljkovic participated as a master's student with the masters thesis «Exposure to styrene in the fiberglass reinforced plastic»: https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/handle/1956/24096/Exposure-to-styrene-in-the-fiberglass-reinforced-plastic-industry.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Article in the journal Yrkeshygienikeren: https://universityofbergen-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/personal/magne_bratveit_uib_no/Documents/O-DISK-msmmt/MINEDO~1/Styren/Yrkeshygienikeren%20Nr.%202%202019.pdf?csf=1&web=1&e=HUUbtu