Quantitative assessment of health risks in the printing industry
Évaluation quantitative des risques sanitaires dans les imprimeries de presse
Résumé
A concern raised about possible excess mortality among printers led to the completion of a Quantitative Health Risk Assessment (QHRA) aimed at quantifying long-term risks by employees working near the press. The QHRA is a four-step process. The identification of the pollutants present, especially in the inks, made it possible to identify the various sources of associated hazards and then to choose the tracer pollutants to be taken into consideration. The toxicological reference values (TRVs) of these tracers were selected. The analysis of the exposure data was based on an analysis of the work and atmospheric and ink measurements from which exposure scenarios were constructed. The data was then synthesized to characterize the risks. At the end of the risk characterization, any doubt is possible about an excess risk of exposure to PAHs and any danger is shown for reproduction. However, exposure to PM10 reveals an excess of risk the first year. The main result is a significant excess of cancer risk related to PM10 exposure. The TRVs for PAHs are respected. Even though the current PM10 limit values are met, this QHRA shows that workers in the vicinity of presses have a high risk of cancer. This result calls for the implementation of immediate corrective measures, supplemented by regular monitoring of exposure levels. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.