Occupational health risk for workers in the production of synthetic polyacrylonitrile fibers

Abstract

The high proportion of workers in the chemical industry working in hazardous working conditions and the justification of measures to preserve their health are an urgent task in the field of protecting the health of the working population, however, aspects of the formation of occupational risks in the production of chemical fibers remain insufficiently studied. The article presents the results of prospective cohort comprehensive studies of working conditions and health status of 137 workers in the production of polyacrylonitrile fibers. The factors of the working environment (chemical, microclimate, noise), the severity and intensity of the labor process, the first identified and chronic non-infectious morbidity for 2017–2021 were studied. It has been established that workers work under the influence of a complex of factors harmful to their health, including chemicals of hazard classes 1–4 (acrylonitrile, methyl acryate, hydrocyanide, sulfuric acid, caustic alkalis, ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol), industrial noise, physical and neuro-emotional overloads, the levels of which, to varying degrees, exceed the hygienic standards, forming harmful working conditions (classes 3.1–3.4). In the structure of the accumulated chronic morbidity of workers, the leading ranking places belonged to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (24.3 %), the circulatory system (16.04 %), and the genitourinary system (15.0 %). As a result of the assessment of cause-and-effect relationships of health disorders with work, the production conditionality of diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, represented by dorsalgia of various levels, of an average degree (RR = 1.893; EF = 47.183 %; CI = 1.192–3.007) was established. Quantitative assessment of group occupational risk corresponded to the category of «high risk» (4.780 × 10–2), indicating the need to reduce it to an acceptable level. The limitation of the study was the study of occupational risk factors for health disorders among employees of one enterprise. The results obtained were used to develop measures to reduce occupational health risks for workers in the production of synthetic polyacrylonitrile fibers.