1. Vascular and nerve damage in workers exposed to vibrating tools. The importance of objective measurements of exposure time
- Author
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Gerhardsson, Lars, Balogh, Istvan, Hambert, Per-Arne, Hjortsberg, Ulf, and Karlsson, Jan-Erik
- Subjects
Vibration syndrome -- Research ,Grinding machines -- Health aspects ,Milling machinery -- Health aspects ,Vibration research -- Health aspects ,Vibration -- Health aspects ,Engineering and manufacturing industries ,Health ,Human resources and labor relations - Abstract
To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.09.001 Byline: Lars Gerhardsson (a)(b), Istvan Balogh (b), Per-Arne Hambert (c), Ulf Hjortsberg (b), Jan-Erik Karlsson (b) Keywords: Vibrating tools; Vascular and neurological effects; Dose estimation Abstract: The aim of the present study was to compare the development of vibration white fingers (VWF) in workers in relation to different ways of exposure estimation, and their relationship to the standard ISO 5349, annex A. Nineteen vibration exposed (grinding machines) male workers completed a questionnaire followed by a structured interview including questions regarding their estimated hand-held vibration exposure. Neurophysiological tests such as fractionated nerve conduction velocity in hands and arms, vibrotactile perception thresholds and temperature thresholds were determined. The subjective estimation of the mean daily exposure-time to vibrating tools was 192min (range 18-480min) among the workers. The estimated mean exposure time calculated from the consumption of grinding wheels was 42min (range 18-60min), approximately a four-fold overestimation (Wilcoxon's signed ranks test, p Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, St Sigfridsgatan 85, SE-412 66 Goteborg, Sweden (b) Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden (c) SkA[yen]nehalsan AB, Linnegatan 34, SE-216 14 Malmo, Sweden Article History: Received 16 August 2001; Revised 15 January 2004; Accepted 2 September 2004
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- 2005