Niveles de mercurio en ambiente y en fluidos biológicos: caso de la metalurgia en Almadén, España (1986-2001)
This paper presents the monitoring and follow-up of environmental and biological mercury levels among metallurgy workers of the Almadén Mines in Spain, which provided the foundation for the mine’s occupational health department to implement a method that allowed establishment of "critical level...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Published: |
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=6377933 |
| Source: | Salud de los Trabajadores, ISSN 1315-0138, Vol. 19, Nº. 2, 2011, pags. 123-133 |
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| Summary: |
This paper presents the monitoring and follow-up of environmental and biological mercury levels among metallurgy workers of the Almadén Mines in Spain, which provided the foundation for the mine’s occupational health department to implement a method that allowed establishment of "critical levels" that would trigger specific preventive interventions.The study was part of an information-gathering project targeting 15 jobs (up to 70 workers), focused on worker living conditions, environmental and personal mercury concentrations, job schedules and shifts, medical surveillance, job profiles, monthly baseline biological controls (using Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry) and maximum allowable biological exposure levels. Mercury levels were analyzed at several levels: facility-wide, in workplaces with continuous and alternating shifts, and, lastly, at the job level. Results showed that, since plant processes were automated in 1997, there had been a definite improvement in workplace mercury levels, and that a reduction of shifts, from the standpoint of the risk posed by exposure to mercury, was not justified. Between two periods (1986-1997 and 1998-2001), mercury exposures at the job level decreased significantly, although a closer evaluation of the soot operator and miscellaneous laborer jobs was warranted. |
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