Heat stress and physiological and perceptual strains of date harvesting workers in palm groves in Jiroft

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Outdoor workers are exposed to heat caused by atmospheric conditions and solar radiation. More specifically, those working in palm groves are more in danger of heat stresses since they harvest their crops in hot seasons. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at investigating heat stresses and strains in date harvesting workers in groves around Jiroft, Southeastern Iran. METHODS: This study was a descriptive-analytical one of cross-sectional type. In this study, three environmental indices including Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index (WBGT), Environmental Stress Index (ESI) and Discomfort Index (DI), the physiological strain index (PSI) as well as perceptual strain index (PeSI) were analyzed to investigate stresses and strains in workers. For this purpose, 59 date harvesting workers (36 men and 23 women) in palm groves in Jiroft were analyzed. With accordance to date harvesting season, data collection was carried out from August to September, 2017. RESULTS: In this research, the means of environmental indices including WBGT, ESI and DI were 32.77 • C, 30.39 • C and 33.22 • C, respectively and they all revealed direct and significant correlation. Moreover, Time-Weighted Average for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index (WBGT.TWA) was significantly different from Threshold Limit Values for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index (WBGT.TLV). The scores of the PSI and PeSI were 2.28 and 6.61, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that date picking workers were exposed to heat stress more than the reference value of WBGT recommended by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). In addition, workers suffered a low degree of physiological strain and a moderate degree of perceptual strain caused by heat stress in palm groves in Jiroft.

Impacts of Climate Change and Heat Stress on Farmworkers' Health: A Scoping Review

“…Five studies identified a strong association between HRI and hot environmental conditions as measured by WBGT ( Table 3 ) ( 72 , 75 , 84 , 85 , 87 ). Vega-Arroyo et al ( 75 ) reported that WBGT was associated with higher core body temperatures (β: 0.03, 95% CI: 0.017–0.05) among migrant farmworkers.…”

“…The most common heat-related health outcome assessed was HRI (n = 57; 62%). Twenty-seven out of 57 of these studies relied on selfreported HRI symptoms (25,27,30,(40)(41)(42), while 21 measured various physiological parameters such as core body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, changes in body weight, or urine specific gravity (61,68,(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83)(84)(85)(86)(87)(88). Another commonly assessed heat-related health outcome was kidney disease (n = 28; 30%).…”

Estrés térmico en casa de máquinas de centrales hidroeléctricas: evaluación de exposición y su control

“…En el contexto laboral el concepto de estrés térmico abarca la suma total de calor al que se encuentran expuestos los trabajadores, siendo esta exposición el resultado de una interacción entre las condiciones ambientales presentes en su lugar de trabajo, el nivel de actividad física desempeñado y la indumentaria utilizada. La evaluación del estrés térmico implica considerar diversos factores, entre ellos la temperatura ambiental, radiación, velocidad del aire, humedad relativa, así como las actividades del trabajador y las propiedades de la ropa utilizada, incluyendo su emisividad y capacidad de radiación (Habib et al, 2021;García et al, 2015;Mohammadian et al, 2020).…”

The Impact of High Ambient Temperature on Human Sperm Parameters: A Meta-Analysis

“…Many other factors are elevating testicular temperature and they can be grouped according to habits, lifestyles ( 7 ; 19 ), occupational factors (i.e. prolonged exposure to high temperatures) ( 20 ; 21 ), and climate change ( 22 ). The association between the effect of high ambient temperature on human sperm parameters has also been investigated, but these results are indecisive and controversial.…”