Dermatoses in cement workers in southern Taiwan

Abstract

Construction workers are known to have occupational dermatoses. The prevalence of such dermatoses was unknown in Taiwanese construction workers. The objective of this study was to determine the work exposure, prevalence of skin manifestations, and sensitivity to common contact allergens in cement workers of southern Taiwan. A total of 1147 current regular cement workers were telephone-interviewed about skin problems during the past 12 months, work exposure, and personal protection. Among those interviewed, 166 were examined and patch tested with common contact allergens. A high % of cement workers reported skin problems in the past 12 months. More men (13.9%) reported skin problems possibly related to work than women (5.4%). Prevalence was associated with lower use of gloves, duration of work as cement worker, and more time in jobs involving direct manual handling of cement, especially tiling. A high % of dermatitis was noted in the 166 workers examined, which correlated with reported skin problems. On patch testing, construction workers had a high frequency of sensitivity to chromate. Sensitivity to chromate or cobalt was associated with reported skin problems, or dorsal hand dermatitis on examination. These workers' dermatitis was under-diagnosed and inadequately managed. It is concluded that cement workers in southern Taiwan had a high prevalence of skin problems related to cement use. Protective measures, work practice, and physician education should be improved to prevent or manage such problems.

Occupational hand dermatitis among cement workers in Taiwan

“…The mean duration of being a cement worker was around 27 years, which is approximately 10 years longer than reported previously by Guo et al 5 The location of affected skin was predominantly the hand, which was strongly consistent with previous observations. 5 The most common skin manifestation among cement workers was thickening of the skin over the dorsal surface of the hand (64.9%), as well as hyperkeratosis over the palm (59.8%) ( Table 2). Further significant manifestations included scaling (35.1%), erythema (25.8%), dryness (33%), fissure (20.6%) and hyperpigmentation (14.4%).…”

“…Previous studies in Europe and the USA have shown that the prevalence rate of chromium hypersensitivity among cement workers is around 4e5%. 6,7 However, some countries show a very high prevalence rate, for example Taiwan 13%, 5 Poland 23% 8 and Singapore 40%. 9 In this study, the positive rate of chromium hypersensitivity among the cement workers was as high as 24.5% (Table 3).…”

“…4 A previous study in Taiwan showed that 16.5% of male and 7.2% of female cement workers developed chromium hypersensitivity as a result of cement exposure. 5 The objectives of our study were to investigate the severity of occupational cement contact dermatitis and the common allergens among cement workers in Taiwan.…”

Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with occupational contact dermatitis: A 3-year single center experience

“…Önceki çalışmalarda çalışmamızla benzer olarak inşaat işçilerinde çimentonun içeriğinde bulunan potasyum dikromat hipersensitivitesi yüksek raporlanmıştır 8,[25][26][27] . Yapılan çalışmalar çimentoya ferik sülfat katılmasının potasyum dikromat duyarlılığını azaltmada etkili olduğu gösterilmiştir 28 .…”

Occupational Health Research in Taiwan.

“…Normally, the conference is organized by an academic association or a university, and is sponsored by governmental agencies like CLA, DOH, and MOE. Quite a few researches in locating the underlining causes of occupational disease or outbreak have been successfully performed by independent researchers or scholars from universities and colleges and appreciable results have been continuously obtained [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . The participation of governmental agency, however, might be more resourceful in setting up a nationwide surveillance program or develop a control remedy or for further corresponding policy-making 19,20) .…”