Objective To understand the occupational health status of workers exposed to mercury in a fluorescent lamp manufacturing enterprise and analyze the factors that affect the level of urinary mercury.
Methods An occupational health survey of workplace was performed according to relevant national standards and air sampling spots were set up at each post following the Sampling specification of harmful substances monitoring in workplace air (GBZ 159-2004). The workers exposed to mercury accepted occupational health examinations including basic information inquiry, internal medicine, surgery, stomatology, laboratory examination, B ultrasound, and electrocardiogram. Totally 1 031 workers participated in this survey, including 351 men and 680 women with age ranged from 20 to 57 years old.
Results The mercury concentrations in air of 122 sampling spots ranged from 0.001 to 0.013 mg/m3, and all were qualified. The urinary mercury concentrations of 1 031 workers ranged from 0.22 to 58.71 μg/gCr (median, 3.26 μg/gCr), of which 9 workers were disqualified (>35 μg/gCr) and the disqualification rate was 0.87%. The positive rate of urinary protein was 19.20% (198 workers), and the nervous system abnormal rate was 10.96% (113 workers). The females' urinary mercury concentration (median, 3.38 μg/gCr) was higher than the males' (median, 3.07 μg/gCr) (P=0.036). A positive correlation was exhibited between the urinary mercury concentrations and age (r=0.089, P=0.011). There was no correlation between working years and the urinary mercury concentrations.
Conclusion The mercury concentrations at each post in the investigated fluorescent lam p manufacturing enterprise are lower than 0.02 mg/m3 and few (0.87%) workers' urinary mercury concentrations are over 35 μg/gCr. Gender and age are potentail impact factors of urinary mercury concentration.
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