Occupational & Environmental Exposure Sciences (OEES)

Background Many people throughout the world are exposed to diesel exhaust (DE) in both occupational and non-occupational environments. High DE exposures are associated with acute and chronic adverse health outcomes including cardiovascular and respiratory disease, asthma and lung cancer.

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Water disinfectants are added to inactivate microorganisms during the drinking water treatment process. But they also have the potential to react with natural organic matter (NOM) and form disinfection by-products (DBPs) that could be both cytotoxic and genotoxic.

University of Washington Abstract Real-Time Particle Monitoring of Pesticide Drift from Two Different Orchard Sprayers Magali N. Blanco Chair of Supervisory Committee: Professor Richard A. Fenske Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Pesticide drift from agricultural spraying is a significant public health concern, affecting workers and surrounding communities.

Exposure to wood smoke has been associated with lung cancer and other adverse health outcomes, and therefore it is a great health concern for those in developing parts of the world as well as developed nations. Pyrene, naphthalene, fluorene, and phenanthrene are components of wood smoke and their metabolites have been frequently used as biomarkers of exposure to combustion emissions.

Background: Falls are the second leading cause of occupational injury and the second leading cause of occupational fatalities in the United States. An occupational fall can lead to a non-time loss injury, loss of work, disability, or in severe cases, death. These injuries can have dire effects on the lives of workers impacted, through loss of their livelihood or in some cases, their life.

Background: Exposure to traffic-related air pollution may be elevated during commute trips, but could vary with different transportation microenvironments and commuting behavior.

Hexavalent chromium-based primers and paints, which are used widely in the aerospace industry as anti-corrosive coatings, pose a health risk to painters and other workers exposed to the paints and primers.

Background: Little is documented for UV exposure to ‘grow’ lights used by indoor farms as well as the cannabis industry. The purpose of this study was to characterize UV light exposure in nursery and grow rooms in two medical cannabis production facilities using area and personal sampling. 

Background: There has been a tenfold rise in the number of reported laser strikes onto aircraft during the last decade; over 90% of which being caused by green lasers. Laser strikes on aircraft can cause a number of hazardous conditions for the crew, passengers, and people on the ground.

Outdoor workers who perform heavy physical labor in hot conditions are at increased risk for developing occupational heat-related illness. Seasonal harvesting of certain tree fruits in Washington occurs during summer months. In addition to environmental heat exposure, harvesting involves internal heat generation from physical work.

Background: Exposure to high concentrations of fine particulate matter air pollution, with mean diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5), is associated with a range of adverse health effects from birth outcomes to lung cancer. The source (composition) and concentration of the PM2.5 influence the prevalence and severity of these health effects.

Exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is common in occupational and environmental settings and has been associated with several adverse health outcomes. Therefore, the ability to accurately quantify DE levels is crucial for understanding and controlling exposures.

AIMS: The goals of this project were to evaluate the effectiveness of a method for reporting biomonitoring results to Latino dairy farm workers as well as provide an annotated list of workplace health and safety training resources for Washington dairy farms.

Background: Climate change is projected to have serious long-term consequences for public health. The existing body of literature has largely characterized increases in hospitalization and mortality in relation to extreme heat, but limited research exists characterizing the relationship between extreme heat and emergency medical services (EMS).  

Engineered nanoparticles are being rapidly incorporated into consumer products. The small size of the particles combined with their high surface area to volume ratio have made these particles ideal candidates for many of the proposed advances in medicine.

Nail salon technicians are potentially exposed to a wide variety of hazardous chemicals including acrylates and solvents in the form of dusts or vapors. Nail salon exposures have been evaluated by a small number of studies and the potential adverse health outcomes have been identified.

Exposure to airborne and settled dust at firing ranges is a well-known hazard that puts employees at risk for lead poisoning. Nine firearms instructors (FAIs) were studied over a 4-week period while working at a U. S. Coast Guard indoor firing range to determine if their work placed them at risk of overexposure to lead.

Objective: To examine the impact of race, ethnicity, gender, and nativity (country of birth) on worker perceptions of occupational safety climate.

Diesel engines are used all over the world in many different applications. Diesel exhaust (DE) has been shown to be associated with several adverse health effects, the most notable being lung cancer.

Over 13,000 shipyard welders in the United States are subjected to hazardous welding fume in enclosed and confined spaces with inadequate or no ventilation. The purpose of this study was to validate a training provided to shipyard workers on the effectiveness of ventilation, particularly in the dynamic shipyard environment.

Background: Over 60% of fatal fall-related occupational injuries occur in the long haul freight trucking industry. Exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) from driving or operating vehicles has been shown to negatively affect balance and may contribute to falls when entering or exiting the vehicle.

While anti-vibration gloves are widespread as a form of reducing employee exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) there is concern about how effective they actually are in a real manufacturing environment with specific tools.

In order to assess the characteristics of air pollutants in proximity to major roadways, a mobile monitoring campaign took place using the University of Washington Center for Clean Air Research (CCAR) mobile instrument platform designed to measure concentrations of particles and gases while continuously on the move.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is usually required for pesticide applications, but how effective it actually is against exposure to chlorpyrifos, solvents and oils is unknown.

Fire is an essential ecological process. However, forest fire burn area in the Pacific Northwest is likely to double or even triple by the end of the 2040s based on projected climate change models and ecosystem evaluations. The projected increase in forest fires has negative health implications because of air quality impacts.

Objectives: This study evaluated golve performance based on solvent permeation through thin latex, thin nitrile, and thick nitrile gloves widely used in the auto painting industry using a permeation panel. The paint formulation used in this study contains a complex mixture of solvents consisting of ketones, acetates, and aromatics.

The potential health effects of bioaerosols are a concern in many environmental and occupational settings. Endotoxin, or lipopolysaccharide, is a component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Studies have shown that inhaled endotoxin may result in increased asthma, airway irritation, and allergic responses.

Air monitoring of gases by Ultraviolet Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy has been shown to provide excellent sensitivity and specificity over long measurement path lengths. This spectroscopic detection method requires an accurate reference library of molecule specific absorption spectra in order to conduct field measurements.

The EPA has recently funded a project proposed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) to develop improved methods of source apportionment of air toxics.