Application of Pattern Mining Methods to Assess Exposures to Multiple Airborne Chemical Agents in Two Large Occupational Exposure Databases from France.

Jean-François Sauvé,Gautier Mater,Andrea Emili

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031746

Abstract

Surveys of the French working population estimate that approximately 15% of all workers may be exposed to at least three different chemical agents, but the most prevalent coexposure situations and their associated health risks remain relatively understudied. To characterize occupational coexposure situations in France, we extracted personal measurement data from COLCHIC and SCOLA, two large administrative occupation exposure databases. We selected 118 chemical agents that had ≥100 measurements with detected concentrations over the period 2010–2019, including 31 carcinogens (IARC groups 1, 2A, and 2B). We grouped measurements by work situations (WS, combination of sector, occupation, task, and year). We characterized the mixtures across WS using frequent itemset mining and association rules mining. The 275,213 measurements extracted came from 32,670 WS and encompassing 4692 unique mixtures. Workers in 32% of all WS were exposed to ≥2 agents (median 3 agents/WS) and 13% of all WS contained ≥2 carcinogens (median 2 carcinogens/WS). The most frequent coexposures were ethylbenzene-xylene (1550 WS), quartz-cristobalite (1417 WS), and toluene-xylene (1305 WS). Prevalent combinations of carcinogens also included hexavalent chromium-lead (368 WS) and benzene-ethylbenzene (314 WS). Wood dust (6% of WS exposed to at least one other agent) and asbestos (8%) had the least amount of WS coexposed with other agents. Tasks with the highest proportions of coexposure to carcinogens include electric arc welding (37% of WS with coexposure), polymerization and distillation (34%), and construction drilling and excavating (34%). Overall, the coexposure to multiple chemical agents, including carcinogens, was highly prevalent in the databases, and should be taken into account when assessing exposure risks in the workplace.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilWorkers may be routinely exposed to multiple occupational hazards concurrently, either through exposure to products or processes containing a mixture of chemical agents, such as combustion products or welding fumes, or from performing different tasks that each entail exposure to different chemical, biological, or physical risk factors
Using data from an occupational exposure database (OEDB) of measurements to carcinogens in Italy, Scarselli et al [2] found that 13% of workers were exposed to at least two carcinogens
We aimed to use pattern mining methods to identify associations between exposures to chemical agents occurring with work situations, using data collected in French workplaces between 2010 and 2019 stored in the COLCHIC and SCOLA databases

Summary

Introduction

Workers may be routinely exposed to multiple occupational hazards concurrently, either through exposure to products or processes containing a mixture of chemical agents, such as combustion products or welding fumes, or from performing different tasks that each entail exposure to different chemical, biological, or physical risk factors. Most of the available data on occupational multi-exposure situations in the population have come from studies of carcinogens. Of workers sampled were exposed to more than one carcinogen (including solar radiation, shift work, and environmental tobacco smoke), with 26% exposed to five carcinogens or more. Using data from an occupational exposure database (OEDB) of measurements to carcinogens in Italy, Scarselli et al [2] found that 13% of workers were exposed to at least two carcinogens. Labrèche et al [3] identified 16 industrial sectors in Quebec, Canada—primarily related to manufacturing—with some exposure to at least iations.

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