![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.png)
The aim of this study was to estimate quantitatively long-term trends of occupational exposure to chemical agents in Finland for surveillance, prevention and risk assessment purposes.
Methods
Finnish job-exposure matrix (FINJEM) includes occupation-specific estimates of the prevalence P (% of employed) and average level L (agent-specific units) of inhalatory exposure to chemical agents in different time periods. FINJEM data were used to calculate national estimates of the numbers of exposed (Nexp), prevalence (P) and level (L) for 46 chemical agents in 1950, 1970, 1990 and 2008. We also estimated the prevalence of employees exposed to levels exceeding 50% of Finnish occupational exposure limit (Phigh) and national occupational inhalatory exposure (NOIE=Nexp*L). Dermal exposure was estimated from the statistics of occupational skin diseases in 1975-2009.
Results
According to preliminary results, inhalatory exposure to most chemical agents decreased. If we use 1990 as the reference (100), the median values of P for 1950, 1970, 1990 and 2008 were 91, 146, 100 and 59, respectively. The corresponding values were 231, 213, 100 and 43 for Phigh, 157, 120, 100 and 85 for L, and 123, 173, 100 and 52 for NOIE. The trends varied considerably by agent. The annual incidence of occupational skin diseases decreased from 6.9/10000 in 1975-9 to 4.6/10000 employed in 2000-9, suggesting a decrease of dermal exposure.
Discussion
P and NOIE of many industrial exposures increased from 1950 to 1970 due to increase of labour force and its transition from agriculture to manufacture. The systematic decreases of L and Phigh indicate that the preventive measures have focused mainly on high exposures. High inhalatory and dermal exposures still exist and they cause a substantial amount of occupational diseases and symptoms. Because of reduced exposures, the future burden of chronic diseases caused by these exposures is expected to decrease accordingly.