著者

鈴木 秀吉

出版者

社団法人 日本産業衛生学会

雑誌

産業医学 (ISSN:00471879)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.10, no.8, pp.421-425, 1968-08-20 (Released:2008-04-14)

参考文献数

3

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As the determination of the maximum allowable concentration of organic solvents requires investigations of the physical responses of man to specified gas concentrations, a gas chamber for that purpose was constructed. The chamber is 2.23 m wide, 3.55 m long, and 2.80 m high, the cubic space being about 23 m3, and it is large enough for two or three men to work to a certain extent at a time. All the walls are shielded with wire netting for undisturbed electrophysiological experiments. The inside of the chamber is furnished like an ordinary living room lest the subject should be strained unnecessarily. Gas generators, concentration measuring apparatus, and electro-physiological apparatus are all equipped outside so that the experimenter may easily operate them observing the inside through the window. To produce a constant gas concentration a method is adopted in which a constant fresh air flow is kept through the air duct in which the solvent vapour is being shot with a spray gun; the quantity of the vapour is adjustable with a screw. An experiment on the function of the chamber under conditions, that tow men were working moderately within and 3.5 m3/min acetone gas was kept sending in, obtained a satisfactory result in which no liability of CO2 accumulation was noticed and the concentration of the solvent kept its stability throughout 6 hours' operation after the first 40 minutes of variation. The range of the concentration to be adjusted with comparative ease was 100∼2000 p.p.m. Though the result of the experiment was pretty satisfactory, the points required for further improvement are: 1) that the noises caused by a fan and by the spray- gun be abated, 2) that a climate adjuster be installed, 3) that the adjustment for concentrations lower than 100 p.p.m.or higher than 2000 p.p.m. be further contrived, 4) that an anemometer for gauging the quantity of the air flow be equipped, and 5) that a gas-chromatograph for the measurement of solvent concetrations be equipped.

著者

井上 俊 竹内 康浩 竹内 寿和子 山田 信也 鈴木 秀吉 松下 敏夫 宮垣 仁実 前田 勝義 松本 忠雄

出版者

社団法人 日本産業衛生学会

雑誌

産業医学 (ISSN:00471879)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.12, no.3, pp.73-84, 1970-03-20 (Released:2008-04-14)

参考文献数

17

被引用文献数

1 2

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In 1967 there occurred many polyneuropathy cases in household vinyl sandal manufacturers at F-disrict in Mie prefecture. In this district among 3, 210 people (788 families) most of them engaged in vinyl sandal manufacture (as of Oct, 1967). Ninety three patients suffering from polyneuropathy were found by our survey. Out of these 93 patients those suffering from sensory polyneuropathy were 53, from sensorimotor polyneuropathy 32 and from sensorimotor polyneuropathy with muscle atrophy 8 (cf. Tab. 1). The work conditions and the factors contributing to the intoxication's were investigated, and the method of prevention was suggested. The results are as follows. (1) The patients occurred in 1961 at first and the number of them increased rapidly from 1965 and showed a peak in 1967 (cf. Tab. 2). This increase was in parallel with the amount of adhesives containing "n-Hexane" used in this district (cf. Tab. 3, 4). Outbreak of many patients in winter and spring may due to poor ventilation in winter. (2) The causative substance was considered to be "n-Hexane". But "n-Hexane" on sale contains 2-methylpentane, 3-methylpentane, n-hexane, and methylcyclopentane, and the quantity of n-hexane in "n-Hexane" is about 60% (cf. Fig. 6). (3) The work conditions of the vinyl sandal manufacturers among whom many cases of "n-Hexane" intoxication occurred were as follows. 1) The work was primitive household manufacture and living rooms were used as the working place (cf. Fig. 1, 3). 2) As adhesives containing a large quantity of highly volatile "n-Hexane" were used in narrow rooms, the concentration of "n-Hexane" vapor became high and reached about 500-2500 ppm in the work room. The vapor concentrations were especially high in winter because of closed windows. (cf. Fig. 7, 8, 9). 3) Since the workers (subcontractors) were paid by the number of manufacturedgoods, their working period was unrestrictedly long and some worked for 14 hours per day (cf. Fig. 10). 4) The work intensity was high and some starched 3, 000 times per day. It seems that the more the times of starching, the heavier the degree of symptoms (cf. Fig. 11). 5) As the adhesives were used with hand brushes, the vapor concentrations were high at the site near the noses of the workers, so that they inhaled the organic solvent vapor at high concentrations. 6) As the organic solvents vapor ignite easily, the work rooms were not heated and they were working at quite low temperatures in winter (cf. Tab. 5). 7) The workers were not instructed as to the toxicity and the handling method of the organic solvents. 8) Usual health supervision was not performed at all. (4) The chief cause of the occurrence of intoxications was that a large amount of the organic solvents was used under very poor work conditions as above mentioned combined with neglected supervision. Moreover, that which gave impetus to the occurrence of the intoxication was that the easily drying adhesives containing a large quantity of "n-Hexane" were used in order to increase the number of the manufactured goods, because the pay per one of the goods was not increased for these several years in spite of the recent inflation. (5) As the urgent measure for the prevention, though instruction on the toxicity and the handling method of the organic solvents, improvement of the ventilation and the working methods, guidance by the health center and so on were made, these are only certain aspects of measures for the prevention. The danger of the intoxication may not be perfectly removed without the fundamental reform in the work conditions.