Alternativas e processos de vigilância em saúde do trabalhador relacionados à exposição ao benzeno no Brasil

Abstract

Alternativas e processos de vigilância em saúde do trabalhador relacionados à exposição ao benzeno no BrasilBenzene exposures in Brazil: alternatives and processes of worker health surveillance Abstract The article reports the experience of the following up of the Benzene Agreement which is contextualized as a practice of surveillance in the field of Worker's Health. It brings into focus the international facet of that experience as well as the twenty years history of the reduction in the use of benzene in Brazil. The article points at four distinct moments of that history. Firstly, it describes the moment in which the technical bases were built and the several crucial alliances were defined. Then, the shaping of the Agreement is described. This process is characterized by conceptual developments, such as the restriction in the use of benzene and the setting up of means of surveillance. Finally, the article relates the results of the process of surveillance, in particular the challenges faced and the proposals to be put into practice in the future. The Brazilian model of surveillance in the field of Worker's Health is debated starting from the understanding of the actions related to the use of benzene and the strengthening of its strategical and structured elements.

Use of personal protective equipment by gas stations workers: a nursing contribution

“…6 Due to uncertainty in regard to safe levels of exposure to benzene, differences among individuals in terms of sensitivity to absorption are considered. 7 There is a prevention model that, a priori, does not recognize any safe parameter of exposure to benzene. Under Brazilian law, the epidemiological surveillance of populations exposed to benzene is considered a way to identify and control at an early stage health problems arising from this work environment.…”

“…8 In the context of gas station workers, attention is drawn to surveillance health actions and programs intended to reduce exposure to benzene. 7 Therefore, education in regard to the appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), hygiene and collective protection measures is essential, as is encouraging their use. From this perspective, nursing professionals can apply their clinical knowledge and implement individual and collective interventions to influence the thinking and actions of subjects/workers in relation to their own health, promoting self-transformation through the acquisition of knowledge concerning the health-work-disease continuum.…”

Aproximações teóricas acerca da Vigilância à Saúde: um horizonte para a integralidade

“…Worker's surveillance in health is integrated to health surveillance and the participation of the community, in the perspective of work in the territory (27) . More recently, this model is defended as a proposal of organizing process and labor environment changing actions, through work on institutional networks (28) .…”

Aspectos toxicológicos do benzeno, biomarcadores de exposição e conflitos de interesses

“…Pelo próprio processo de trabalho envolvendo atividades de risco em postos de combustíveis, no qual os trabalhadores entram em contato direto com os vapores dos combustíveis 26,27 , a não alteração de determinado biomarcador na amostra de um trabalhador não quer dizer que não há exposição e não há risco de adoecimento do trabalhador. A exposição em postos de combustíveis sempre está presente nos procedimentos mais comuns, como abastecimento de veículos e descarregamento do caminhão-tanque e não há concentrações seguras dessa exposição, uma vez que benzeno é comprovadamente cancerígeno.…”