UNASSIGNED: The COVID-19 pandemic has globally influenced the exposure of populations to chemical substances through various channels. This study aims to evaluate the tendencies of the use of chemical products in Latvia amidst the pandemic. Answers from 597 respondents (26.6% male, 73.4% female, mean age 46.0 ± 12.2) which were gathered as part of the HBM4EU (Human Biomonitoring Initiative) citizen survey and 8 focus group participants were used.
UNASSIGNED: The study utilized data from the HBM4EU citizen survey and conducted focus group discussions to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on chemical product usage in Latvia. Survey responses were analyzed to identify changes in exposure to chemicals, particularly in relation to disinfection agents and household products.
UNASSIGNED: More than two-thirds of survey participants reported increased exposure to chemicals during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly related to the use of disinfection agents and household products. About 2-in-5 (39.8%) of survey respondents considered that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased their interest in exposure to chemicals. The excessive use of disinfectant products is the main concern of citizens (mentioned by 66.7%, n = 389). Also, two focus group participants noted that the use of disinfectant products is too widespread and should be minimized.
UNASSIGNED: The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has not only increased the use of chemical products in Latvia but also promoted an interest in safe and healthy use of chemicals which could be useful to raise the awareness of the general public.

This paper discusses the potential of additive printing, the risks it poses to users\' health (including 3D printer operators) and the effects of chemical substances released during the printing based on the available in vitro and in vivo studies. It was shown that substances emitted during printing with the commonly used acrylonitrile butadiene styrene filament in additive manufacturing might have carcinogenic, hepatotoxic and teratogenic effects, as well as toxic effect on the respiratory system. The latest research on the mechanism of formation of particles and volatile organic compounds during 3D printing, the parameters affecting their potential emission, and trends in reducing these hazards are indicated. The need for the design of more environmentally friendly and less emissive printing materials, as well as strategies for prevention and individual and collective protection measures are emphasized. Users of 3D printers should be familiar with all possible aspects of the threats associated with the printing process. Insufficient data on direct exposure to chemicals and particles released during the use of filaments makes it difficult to build awareness of safe working practices. Of particular concern is the health impact of emitted chemicals and particles from thermally treated materials in one of the most popular technologies for 3D printing, i.e., fused deposition modelling. Exposure of the users to, e.g., plasticizers added to filaments occurs through a variety of routes, by absorption through the skin, by inhalation or ingestion. Available epidemiological data, as well as current experimental works, indicate that such exposure is a high risk of cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis in adults, and cardiac problems and metabolic disorders in children. This review, by identifying potential risk factors, may contribute to reducing the health loss of printer users and improving working conditions and safety, especially in enterprises where additive manufacturing technology is used. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(2):159-171.
W artykule omówiono potencjał drukowania addytywnego, zagrożenia, jakie wynikają z jego stosowania dla zdrowia użytkowników (w tym operatorów drukarek 3D) i skutki oddziaływania substancji uwalnianych podczas tego procesu na podstawie dostępnych badań in vitro i in vivo. Wykazano, że substancje emitowane podczas drukowania z wykorzystaniem powszechnie stosowanego filamentu poli(akrylonitrylu-co-butadienu-co-styrenu) w produkcji przyrostowej mogą cechować się działaniem rakotwórczym, hepatotoksycznym i teratogennym oraz oddziaływać toksycznie na układ oddechowy. Wskazano najnowsze badania dotyczące mechanizmu powstawania cząstek stałych i lotnych związków organicznych podczas drukowania przestrzennego, parametrów wpływających na ich potencjalną emisję oraz kierunki ograniczania tych zagrożeń. Podkreślono konieczność opracowania przyjaźniejszych dla środowiska i mniej emisyjnych materiałów do druku oraz strategii prewencji i środków ochrony indywidualnej oraz zbiorowej. Użytkownicy drukarek 3D powinni poznać wszystkie możliwe aspekty zagrożeń związanych z procesem drukowania. Zbyt mała ilość danych dotyczących bezpośredniego narażenia na substancje chemiczne i cząstki stałe uwalniane podczas użytkowania filamentów utrudnia budowanie świadomości bezpiecznej pracy. Szczególnie istotny jest wpływ emitowanych związków chemicznych i cząstek stałych z materiałów poddanych obróbce termicznej w jednej z najpopularniejszych technologii druku 3D, tj. osadzania topionego materiału, na zdrowie drukujących. Narażenie użytkowników np. na dodawane do filamentów plastyfikatory następuje różnymi drogami – przez skórę oraz układy oddechowy i pokarmowy. Dostępne dane epidemiologiczne i najnowsze prace eksperymentalne wskazują, że taka ekspozycja to wysokie ryzyko chorób układu naczyniowo-sercowego i miażdżycy u dorosłych lub problemów kardiologicznych i zaburzeń metabolicznych u dzieci. Niniejszy przegląd poprzez wskazanie potencjalnych czynników ryzyka może przyczynić się do ograniczenia utraty zdrowia użytkowników drukarek i poprawy warunków oraz bezpieczeństwa pracy przede wszystkim w przedsiębiorstwach, w których wykorzystuje się technologię wytwarzania addytywnego. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(2):159–171.

Environmental services (EVS) workers are essential to preventing the spread of disease in hospitals. However, their exposure to hazardous chemicals and drugs is understudied. This scoping review will synthesize literature on hazardous chemical exposures and adverse health outcomes among EVS workers to identify research gaps and trends for further investigation. The scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to ensure complete and accurate reporting. The scoping review included 25 studies on occupational exposure to chemicals among EVS workers in hospitals. Most studies focused on exposure to cleaning products, which led to dermal, respiratory, and ocular symptoms, oxidative stress, and inflammation. While personal protective equipment (PPE), training, education, and policies have the potential to enhance safety, further research is required to examine the long-term impacts of exposure and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Future studies should utilize longitudinal approaches and self-reported data collection methods, such as diaries and interviews, to comprehensively assess exposure risks and develop effective interventions and policies. Future research is needed to understand the potential health risks faced by EVS workers from exposure to chemicals in hospitals. Longitudinal studies with objective exposure assessments and larger sample sizes should be conducted. Policies and interventions must be developed and implemented to improve safe work practices and reduce negative health outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to summarize the typical and specific causes and risk reduction measures of serious accidents in Japan caused by chemical substances in terms of the 10 types of human health hazards in the UN GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals) classification. The list of \"Cases of Major Accidents Caused by Chemical Substances\" published on the \"Safety in the Workplace Website\" of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) was linked to the \"Results of GHS Classification by the Government\" of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE). Analysis was conducted by health hazards in order to obtain reference examples of measures taken against health hazards in response to the revision of the law on autonomous chemical substance management in 2022. Using the text mining tool KH Coder ver. Three using cluster analysis, we grouped causes and measures among serious disasters by health hazard, illustrated co-occurrence networks, and extracted typical examples of each in a co-occurrence network. Representative causes of and measures against occupational accidents caused by health hazardous properties were summarized from the extracted typical cases. Although few occupational accidents were caused by the health hazards of chemicals, when all health hazards were classified into acute toxicity, acute health hazard, and chronic health hazard, contact was a clear cause for many of the acute toxicity and acute health hazards, such as corrosiveness and sensitization. However, many occupational accidents were caused by the physical hazardous aspects of the chemical substances or by the safety aspects of the workplace. Causes of occupational accidents due to health hazards included unsafe behavior and unsafe conditions, or lack of understanding of the physicochemical properties of a substance and specific reactions such as mixing or hydrolysis of the substance. Typical risk reduction measures for health hazards included equipment to prevent human contact with health hazardous substances, systems to control unsafe behavior, promoting understanding of chemical reactions, and providing information about chemicals to all persons involved in testing, research, and subcontract work. The data of occupational accident cases of \"death or more than 4 days lost from work\" were used. Most of the cases were related to acute health hazards, but relatively few to chronic health hazards, and few occupational accidents were caused by health hazards. Most of the occupational accidents were caused by health hazards due to the physical hazards of chemical substances and inadequate workplace safety. In light of the above, it is necessary in autonomous chemical substance management to first take risk reduction measures for workplace safety and chemical physical hazards, then to prevent contact with acute toxicity and acute health hazards such as corrosiveness and sensitization, and, lastly, to take risk reduction measures for chronic health hazards, using allowable concentrations and controlled concentrations as indices.

The management of workplace chemicals shifted from a regulatory-based to a self-managed approach as of April 2023. To assess readiness, concerns, and necessary support for this change, a free-response questionnaire survey was conducted for the participants of the \"Promoting self-management of chemicals in enterprises\" seminar held by the Department of Occupational Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, in January-February 2023. Text-mining using KH Coder (Ver.3) was conducted to investigate relationships between words that appeared in sentences using a co-occurrence network and hierarchical cluster analysis. From the questionnaire\'s description text, combinations of the terms \"information\" and \"collection,\" \"small and medium-sized\" and \"enterprise,\" and \"chemical\" and \"substance\" were extracted. Results suggest a need for \"information gathering\" and \"support for small and medium-sized enterprises.\"

Chemical reagents have become fundamental products in daily life use, they contribute in several ways to establish a high level of social development. In the case of higher education, the use of reagents allows learning thought laboratory practices. These practices must be carried out under preventative measures, in order to avoid negative impacts on the environment and human health; this generates the need to identify and classify the chemical substances used and the waste generated. This research was developed at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering at Universidad Santo Tomás in the Villavicencio campus, the objective was to apply the concepts of Green Chemistry in the laboratory guidelines, in addition to guaranteeing the proper management of the chemical waste generated. Initially, the hazard of twenty-one (21) laboratory guides based on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) ninth revised edition (2021) was determined. Subsequently, an update was performed by applying Green Chemistry to ten (10) of the laboratory guides that represented the greatest hazards, and finally, a manual was established for the management of chemical waste resulting from laboratory practices. The results determined that in the subject of Inorganic Chemistry the guidelines Physical and Chemical Properties of the Matter presents the highest hazard index, due to lead nitrate, which was evaluated as the most hazard reagent, because of its carcinogenicity (1B) and reproductive toxicity (1A). The proposed update to the guidelines was possible by replacing the chemical substances used in order to reduce by 24% the risk associated with them and the by 50% the use of reagents in relation to the same laboratory guidelines defined in the first stage.

An open-ended questionnaire was administered to the participants of a six-part lecture series on self-controlled management of chemical substances regarding the support those participants would need when transitioning to that system, and the required elements of support were examined using a text-mining tool (KH Coder Ver. 3). The subjects were 59 persons who attended the lectures on an overview of self-controlled management of chemical substances and answered a questionnaire after the course. The lectures were organized by the Graduate School of Occupational Health, University of Occupational and Environmental Health from January-February 2022. The participants themselves indicated that they needed knowledge and up-to-date information on the revised law, as well as education about chemical substances. As for the support needed for individuals, the following were considered necessary: to provide support for education; management; information; the latest information; and education about the toxicity and dangers of chemical substances, which are necessary for education and chemical substance management in accordance with the revised law. As for the support needed for organizations, it was considered necessary to support the understanding of top management and the securing of necessary human resources.

The species Euphorbia umbellata has been used to treat inflammatory diseases, cancer, and ulcers. Biological activities reported in the literature, including antiproliferative, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory, are attributed to the chemical constituents present in its composition as terpenes and polyphenolic compounds. The most recurrently verified metabolites in the Euphorbiaceae family plant species are terpenes, of which euphol is a major constituent with broadly reported cytotoxic, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects; it frequently appears in various extracts obtained from the plant. Euphol has a documented inhibitory effect on neutrophil chemotaxis and can modulate the complement system. Since complement system activation is intimately intertwined with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, tumor growth promotion and metastasis, plant metabolites from Euphorbia umbellata might influence the outcomes of inflammatory processes. We believe that this is the first review presenting the current knowledge on Euphorbia umbellata secondary metabolites and their biological activities.

A reliable method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was established to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the chemical constituents of Du-zhi pill (DZP) as well as their metabolites in rat plasma, urine and feces after gastric perfusion. The efficient on-line mass data acquisition modes combined the various off-line mass data mining strategy was applied. A full mass scan was performed, and then accurate MS/MS datasets were obtained through the use of a multiple mass defect filter (MMDF) and dynamic background subtraction (DBS)-dependent data acquisition method. Furthermore, post-acquisition data processing was conducted using various data-mining tools, including extracted ion chromatography (XIC), mass defect filtering (MDF), product ion filtering (PIF), and neutral loss filtering (NLF) (MetabolitePilot™). Finaly, a total of 176 compounds were identified or tentatively characterized in DZP. Moreover, a total of 233 components in vivo, which includes 92 prototype components and 141 metabolites, were unambiguously or tentatively identified in rat plasma, urine and feces. The metabolic pathways, including phase I reactions (hydroxylation, dehydroxylation and hydrogenation) and phase II reactions (acetylation, sulfation, glucuronidation and methylation), for the absorbed constituents, were explored and summarized. This is the first systematic study on the components of DZP and their metabolites in vivo. This study provide a valid analytical strategy for the characterization of chemical compounds and metabolites of TCM formulas. Moreover, an integrative strategy was proposed for the characterization and identification of chemical constituents and metabolites for additional TCM prescriptions.

In this study, four kinds of chemical substances (2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine, β-ionone, citronellal, and paeonol), three kinds of plant essential oils (tea tree essential oil, lavender essential oil, and myrrh essential oil), and their combinations were selected to explore their synergistic effects on tobacco beetle [Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae)] adults by the behavioral test and laboratory simulation test. Behavioral test results showed that some of the combinations revealed a synergistic effect on tobacco beetle adults, especially the sexual attractant +2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine + β-ionone + citronellal + paeonol (SABCD, one portion of sexual attractant, and 1 mg/L synergistic substances) combination and the food attractant +2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine + paeonol (FAD, 1 ml of food attractant and 1 mg/L synergistic substances) combination showed the best behavioral effect on tobacco beetle adults with average dwell times of 120.97 and 126.74 s, respectively, compared to those of other combinations. Meanwhile, SABCD had the highest selection rate [89.47%, about 1.5 times that of the sexual attractant (S)] on tobacco beetle adults compared with those of other combinations. In addition, laboratory simulation test results showed that the SABCD combination had the highest average selection rate (37.31%, about 2 times that of S) on tobacco beetle adults at 1 mg/L. However, our results showed that there was no significant difference in the indoor simulation results of food attractant synergistic substances. Our results will provide guidance for the development of new pesticides for tobacco beetle adults.