A few days ago, Wei Jianjun popularized science for everyone
Basic knowledge of some occupational diseases
But it's not enough to know about these
It's not
Wei Jianjun is here to give you new knowledge points for popular science again
But
Let's first review the previous knowledge points
Occupational disease hazard factors include: various harmful chemical, physical and biological factors existing in occupational activities and other occupational harmful factors generated in the course of operation.
That's right, today I want to popularize science knowledge
It is related to occupational disease hazards
It's the chemical factor
Formaldehyde!
PART 01
The smell of the workplace is too high, is the formaldehyde excessive?
The Fuyong Branch of the Public Health Service of Bao'an District received an anonymous report from a citizen that the formaldehyde of an enterprise in an industrial zone exceeded the standard and required to be dealt with.
The Fuyong sub-center immediately arranged for law enforcement officers to go to the industrial zone for verification, and because the citizens did not specify the specific address and company name, the law enforcement officers conducted an investigation of more than 10 enterprises in the industrial zone.
Law enforcement officers identified a gift packaging company in the industrial zone by looking at the on-site process flow, raw and auxiliary materials, and occupational disease hazard factor test reports.
The workplace of the enterprise has a large smell, and the test report of occupational disease hazard factors provided shows that the occupational disease hazard factors are xylene, toluene, butyl acetate, dust, and noise, and the on-site test results meet the health requirements.
Law enforcement personnel urge employers to do a good job in ventilation, worker protection, occupational health examinations of workers, and detection of occupational disease hazards in workplaces.
Although formaldehyde was not detected at the scene, what exactly is formaldehyde? Can it be smelled?
PART 02
What is Formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde (molecular formula HCHO) is a colorless, odorless and irritating gas, which has an irritating effect on human eyes and nose.
So it is obviously not reliable to identify formaldehyde based on smell, in short: the concentration of formaldehyde may be exceeded, but you can't smell it, and the pungent odor you smell may not be formaldehyde.
In the environment where formaldehyde gas exceeds the standard, the human body will directly produce an uncomfortable reaction.
When the formaldehyde concentration is 0.15-1.25mg/m³, symptoms such as tearing and blinking will occur, and when the concentration reaches 0.63mg/m³, nasal irritation will appear.
Industrially, it is generally prepared by catalytic oxidation of methane or methanol, which is highly soluble in solvents such as water, ethanol, ether and acetone.
The gas density of formaldehyde is greater than that of air, and in the case of air convection, a large amount of formaldehyde will be deposited at a position of about 1 meter above the ground.
Formaldehyde is an important organic raw material, mainly used in wood, plastic industry (such as phenolic resin, urea-formaldehyde plastic-electric jade), synthetic fibers (such as synthetic vinylon-polyvinyl formaldehyde), leather industry, medicine, dyes, etc.
PART 03
How is formaldehyde removed?
While modern industrial development brings people convenient life, it has also produced a large number of industrial supplies (resin materials, binders, preservatives, etc.) with formaldehyde as an added material, which have entered thousands of households along with furniture, and formaldehyde is also slowly released into the indoor air with the decomposition of binders.
▲Source: Henan Disease Control
Long-term exposure to low concentrations of formaldehyde may lead to neurasthenia, headaches, lethargy, memory loss and other symptoms. In addition, chronic formaldehyde poisoning is often accompanied by serious hazards such as lung function damage, blood toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and genetic damage.
In the list of carcinogens published by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, formaldehyde belongs to a class of carcinogens.
At present, there are three commonly used formaldehyde control methods: source control, increased air circulation and end treatment.
- Source control
Undoubtedly, source control is the most effective way to reduce formaldehyde pollution. Do not use formaldehyde-containing materials, auxiliary materials or use formaldehyde-free GS liquid, polyhydroxyacrylic acid, etc.
- Increase air circulation
Increasing air circulation is also an effective way to improve air quality, opening windows for ventilation can allow fresh air to circulate and diffuse formaldehyde.
If it is windy, rainy and other weather, it is not advisable to open the window for ventilation, you can consider installing a ventilation and exhaust system to exchange the indoor air and the outdoor filtered air to dilute the indoor formaldehyde.
- End-of-line governance
End-of-line treatment technologies mainly include adsorption and catalytic oxidation, such as activated carbon.
However, in a large space, due to the limited amount of activated carbon that can be stacked, the effect is inadequate.
Moreover, activated carbon adsorption is a physical adsorption, which cannot degrade formaldehyde, and will escape when saturated, so it needs to be replaced regularly.
PART 04
Wei Jianjun reminded
Finally, Wei Jian Jun warmly reminds all employers:
It is necessary to carry out regular testing of occupational disease hazard factors to ensure that the concentration of chemicals in the air meets the requirements, replace and remove high-risk chemicals, and ensure that the workplace is well ventilated.
▲ Source: soogif
Workers should be equipped with personal protective equipment that meets the requirements, and organize workers to conduct occupational health examinations before, during and after leaving their posts in accordance with regulations, and send them to medical institutions for treatment in a timely manner if they find any discomfort, and report to the health supervision agency in a timely manner if occupational poisoning occurs.
Employers that fail to declare occupational disease hazards shall make online declarations through the national "Occupational Disease Hazard Project Declaration System" in a timely manner.
(Website: https://www.zybwhsb.com/)
If there is a change in the information of the declared employer, the annual update and declaration shall be made in a timely manner.