Hydrogen sulphide exposure in waste water treatment

Austigard, Åse Dalseth; Svendsen, Kristin; Heldal, Kari Kulvik

doi:10.1186/s12995-018-0191-z

Cited by 34 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…H2S exposure was registered by the number of peaks recorded above 0.1 ppm (H2S01), 1 ppm (H2S1), 5.0 ppm (H2S5) and 10.0 ppm (H2S10), as well as the duration of the peaks. To combine these measurement results into a single value, a hydrogen sulphide index was computed, as earlier described (Austigard et al, 2018):…”

Section: Calculation Of Hydrogen Sulphide Indexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endotoxin and Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure and Effects on the Airways Among Waste Water Workers in Sewage Treatment Plants and Sewer Net System

Heldal

Austigard

Svendsen

et al. 2019

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether airborne exposure to endotoxins, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and inhalable particles negatively impacts the respiratory system and inflammatory blood proteins in sewage plant and sewer net system workers, and further to determine dose-response associations between exposure and health outcomes.Methods: In total, 148 waste water workers (WWWs) from urban and rural sewage plants and the sewer net system participated. One hundred and twenty-one workers were exposed to sewage, 46 from sewage plants and 75 from the sewer net system.Twenty-seven workers were characterized as little or not exposed and served as an internal reference group. Personal inhalable samples were analysed for endotoxins (Limulus assay), particle dust (gravimetrically) and Salmonella and Yersinia spp. (polymerase chain reaction method, PCR). Levels of H2S were measured using personal electro chemical sensors. Intercellular adhesion molecule 1(ICAM-1), interleukin 8 (IL-8), surfactant protein D (SP-D), club cell protein 16 (CC16) and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and C-reactive protein (CRP) by an HS-MicroCRP assay in blood samples.Results: Workers in sewage plants were exposed to significantly higher levels of endotoxins compared to workers in the sewer net system (median 55 EU/m 3 (4-262 EU/m 3 ) and median 27 EU/m 3 (1-304 EU/m 3 ), respectively). The estimated H2S index showed higher values when working in the sewer net system (median 3.1 (0.5-78.1) compared to workers at the sewage plants (median 1.3 (0.5-9.3), and the most excessive exposure was collecting sewage from cesspools (273 ppm). No viable airborne Salmonella and Yersinia spp. were detected. The exposed workers had significantly higher CRP compared to the referents (1.2 µg/ml (0.1-19.0 µg/ml) and 0.8 µg/ml (0.1-5.0 µg/ml), respectively) and lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 %) (92.6 %, SD 14.6) and 102.0 %, SD10.1, respectively), with numbers given as mean and standard deviation. The serum concentration of CRP was significantly and negatively associated with FEV1% (β = -7.7, R 2 = 0.05) and FVC% (β = -8.5, R 2 = 0.08), and the serum concentration of ICAM-1 with the estimated exposure to H2S (β = -19.9, R 2 = 0.07). Conclusion:Despite moderate levels of endotoxin and H2S exposure, the results indicate an impact of these agents on lung function and the adhesion molecule ICAM-1, and a low-grade systemic inflammation was indicated in increased levels of CRP.

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Section: Calculation Of Hydrogen Sulphide Indexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endotoxin and Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure and Effects on the Airways Among Waste Water Workers in Sewage Treatment Plants and Sewer Net System

Heldal

Austigard

Svendsen

et al. 2019

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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“…A strong-quality study was conducted by Austigard et al ( 30 ) at 56 WWTPs in the middle of Norway. The authors collected 93 personal air samples over 1 year to measure the exposure of H 2 S among the sewage workers and determine the effect of seasonal variation on the exposure.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Review of Potential Occupational Respiratory Hazards Exposure Among Sewage Workers

Muzaini

Yasin

Ismail

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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Background: Sewage workers have a higher risk of exposure to various potential occupational respiratory hazards found in sewage plants. Although previous studies discuss occupational respiratory hazard concentration impacting sewage workers' respiratory health, the results are scarce and mixed. Hence, there is a need to identify the potential respiratory hazards in sewage plants so as to clarify the short- and long-term respiratory health effects. Therefore, this systematic review (SR) aims to critically review previous studies investigating potential respiratory hazards found at sewage plants and their effects on sewage workers' respiratory health.Methods: An SR was conducted using PubMed, EBSCO Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar on peer-reviewed studies published between January 1994 and October 2020 evaluating the impact of potential exposure to respiratory hazards and its effects on respiratory health among sewage workers. “Sewage treatment plant,” “respiratory hazards,” and “respiratory health effects” were the three main search terms chosen in this SR. The inclusion criteria were (1) studies on potential occupational respiratory hazard exposure among sewage workers, (2) manuscripts written in English, and (3) studies published in the peer-reviewed literature. The human observational studies' quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool.Results: We identified 5,660 articles through an initial database search. Only 26 items met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review; 15 human observational studies and 11 environmental assessment studies were conducted in the sewage industries. Most of the human observational studies were rated as moderate quality, two studies were rated as weak quality, and one study with strong quality was identified. Hydrogen sulfide, bioaerosols, particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5), and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were found to be potential respiratory hazards. Most of the risks contributed to adverse outcomes on the sewage workers' respiratory health with some inconsistent findings on the relationship between respiratory hazard exposure and respiratory health effects.Conclusion: Our review finds that, although this area is of great importance, quality studies are still lacking. There is a need for additional studies to clarify the effects of respiratory hazard exposure on sewage workers and respiratory health, especially PM 2.5 and VOC.

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“…Measurements were distributed over all seasons, and flushing were recorded. For more details, we refer to an earlier publication ( Austigard et al , 2018 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For transient or acute effects, other measures like peak exposure might be more relevant than traditional exposure statistics ( Checkoway et al , 2019 ; Virji and Kurth, 2020 ). We have previously proposed an exposure index for H 2 S that evaluates both intensity and frequency into one single number ( Austigard et al , 2018 ). Manual counting of peaks is time consuming when dealing with large amounts of data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) Exposure Hazard Assessment: An Algorithm for Generating Exposure Index Based on Direct Instrument Readings

Austigard

Smedbold²

2021

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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Objectives Increased use of small affordable alarm sensors with logging or network capabilities has improved the ability to monitor exposure. The large datasets generated from these monitors calls for development of a computer algorithm to assess these data. Methods We examined 88 time series of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from wastewater works previously used for developing the exposure index. The time series covered 331 h, where 16 h had readings different from zero. Results The developed algorithm reproduced the manual assessed index almost perfectly (linear regression β = 1.02, R2 = 0.97, P < 0.001). Time-weighted average (TWA) values of the 88 time series showed a mean value of 0.04 ppm (range 0.0–0.9). The mean index value was 18 (range 0–337), with a good linear fit (β = 0.002, R2 = 0.93, and P < 0.001). The index gave us a better resolution and basis for risk assessment than the TWA, and managed to combine evaluation of TWA and exceedance of ceiling value in one number. Conclusions As long as peaks above ceiling value occur, we find alarm tools with an H2S sensor to be an essential personal protective equipment against H2S. The proposed method has been verified, and it removes some common human errors in graph evaluation. Use of the index is a possible way of quantifying risk level in exposure to H2S in one single number and provides better understanding of the risk of exposure, as it eases the analysis and evaluation of large numbers of time series.

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Hydrogen sulphide exposure in waste water treatment

Cited by 34 publications

References 29 publications

Endotoxin and Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure and Effects on the Airways Among Waste Water Workers in Sewage Treatment Plants and Sewer Net System

Endotoxin and Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure and Effects on the Airways Among Waste Water Workers in Sewage Treatment Plants and Sewer Net System

Systematic Review of Potential Occupational Respiratory Hazards Exposure Among Sewage Workers

Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) Exposure Hazard Assessment: An Algorithm for Generating Exposure Index Based on Direct Instrument Readings

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