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Estimation of personal exposure to asbestos of brake repair workers

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 27, pages 417–426 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Exposure assessments are key tools to conduct epidemiological studies. Since 2010, 28 riveters from 18 brake repair shops with different characteristics and workloads were sampled for asbestos exposure in Bogotá, Colombia. Short-term personal samples collected during manipulation activities of brake products, and personal samples collected during non-manipulation activities were used to calculate 103 8-h TWA PCM-equivalent personal asbestos concentrations. The aims of this study are to identify exposure determinant variables associated with the 8-h TWA personal asbestos concentrations among brake mechanics, and propose different models to estimate potential asbestos exposure of brake mechanics in an 8-h work-shift. Longitudinal-based multivariate linear regression models were used to determine the association between personal asbestos concentrations in a work-shift with different variables related to work tasks and workload of the mechanics, and some characteristics of the shops. Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate the 8-h TWA PCM-Eq personal asbestos concentration in work-shifts that had manipulations of brake products or cleaning activities of the manipulation area, using the results of the sampling campaigns. The simulations proposed could be applied for both current and retrospective studies to determine personal asbestos exposures of brake mechanics, without the need of sampling campaigns or historical data of air asbestos concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded with the financial support of the Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Colciencias) grant 567-2012 for Doctoral Students, and Colciencias’ Contract 760-2013 project code 120456933509. Previous studies received funding from Fundación Mapfre (Spain), and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Engineering at Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia). We thank the owners and workers from the BRS sampled. We also thank graduate students Juliana Uribe and Natalia Salazar for their assistance during sampling campaigns, and María Grau Pérez and Manuela Valenzuela for their advice in the implementation of the statistical models and the simulations performed with Crystal Ball. Information regarding BRS located in different zones of Bogotá gathered by undergraduate Environmental Engineering students from Universidad de Los Andes was greatly appreciated. We also thank Alonso Rojas for his help during sampling campaigns.

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  1. Patrick N Breysse: Currently employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patrick Breysse is serving in his personal capacity.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    María Fernanda Cely-García, Mauricio Sánchez-Silva, Margarita Giraldo, Lorena Méndez & Juan Pablo Ramos-Bonilla

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Frank C Curriero

  3. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Patrick N Breysse

  4. Research Department, Fundación Neumológica Colombiana, Bogotá, Colombia

    Carlos Torres-Duque & Patricia Parada

  5. Medical Department, Fundación Neumológica Colombiana, Bogotá, Colombia

    Carlos Torres-Duque, Mauricio Durán & Mauricio González-García

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Correspondence to Juan Pablo Ramos-Bonilla.

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The opinions expressed by Patrick N. Breysse in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Health and Human Services and the US government.

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Cely-García, M., Curriero, F., Sánchez-Silva, M. et al. Estimation of personal exposure to asbestos of brake repair workers. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 27, 417–426 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2016.76

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