Health Disorders and Ergonomic Concerns From the Use of the Microscope: A Voice From the Past

Abstract

To the Editor Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are an increasing health problem in workplaces.1 These disorders are a major cause of concern for several reasons: the health problem leading to workers’ disability, the lost time from work, and the social costs. MSDs affect workers in a variety of occupations, including pathologists working at the microscope.2 This letter aims at reviewing Bernardino Ramazzini’s observations of health disorders of subjects working in the second half of the 17th century. He observed a variety of MSDs among workers (such as sedentary workers, secretaries, learned men, people who do fine work, and goldsmiths) sharing exposure to risk factors potentially similar to those of professionals using a microscope. In the treatise De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers), Ramazzini3 described the relationship between noxious exposures to chemicals and physical agents with the occurrence of illnesses in more than 50 occupations in workers of that time.4 In particular, he observed that numerous health problems (such as sciatica, gibbus, valgoid condition, hernia, pain in different parts of the body, fatigue, arthritis, lameness, shoulder dislocation, and muscular tension) were associated with prolonged, violent, and irregular motion (as in blacksmiths, miners, carpenters, weavers, and others) and prolonged unnatural posture of a worker’s body (as in printers, tailors, goldsmiths, and …