Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
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20 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com I n August 1996, Karen Wetterhahn, a chemistry professor at Dartmouth College in Han- over, N.H., was conducting lab tests when a drop or two of a highly toxic compound spilled onto one of the latex gloves she was wearing. The substance, dimethylmercury, penetrated the glove and within 15 seconds entered her skin. In less than one year, she had died of mercury poisoning. Her death points in a stark way to the crucial importance of protecting the skin against hazardous substances. And while chemicals may present the most obvious risk, many other substances, agents and processes in the workplace can damage the skin and lead to long-term, debilitating disorders. The most common occupational skin disease is contact dermatitis, a rash or infl amma- tion of the skin caused by contact with a substance. Dermatitis appears in various degrees of severity, from mild rash to blistering. Dermatitis can be painful and may affect a person's quality of life. "Usually, it's an itchy, scaly, fl aky, persistent rash," says Irena Kudla, clinical occupational hygienist at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital. "It can be red, swollen and lead to the development of tiny blisters, tiny water bubbles, that will weep and then form a crust. And that cycle repeats itself, so the skin becomes thick, and it will start to crack." Contact dermatitis has two forms: irritant contact and allergic contact. Irritant contact dermatitis, which accounts for 80 per cent of all cases of contact dermatitis, results from direct damage to the skin caused by exposure to a hazardous substance and usually affects only those areas of skin exposed to the irritant. Damage may be caused by chronic, cumulative exposures to mild irritants (such as water, detergents and soaps) or acute exposures to highly irritating substances (such as acids and caustic soda). A major cause of irritant contact dermatitis is "wet work," says Kudla. "Wet work is a big issue. It includes not only having your hands wet, whether you're in the service industry or food service, and you're washing dishes or you're a cleaner, it also includes prolonged use of gloves because the hands can perspire in the gloves," she says. Allergic contact dermatitis results when a worker comes in contact with a skin allergen. The worker must fi rst be sensitized to the allergen before the reaction can occur. The reac- tion may not be limited to the area of contact with the allergen but may spread over large areas of the body. The effects can be long-lasting and hinder a person's ability to continue working. Common sensitizers are epoxy resins, formaldehyde, nickel, wood dust, fl our, printing plates, chemicals, adhesives and cement. Health effects to the skin are often divided into local- ized problems — such as chemical burns and physical trauma, including bruises and punctures — and systemic problems, which result when a contamin- ant is absorbed into the skin and goes to a target organ or the nervous system, according to Dhananjai Borwankar, technical specialist at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton. Some solvents can cause harmful effects on the heart, others on the kidneys. For example, the industrial use of benzene has been proven to cause cancer in humans. Lorne Kleppe, executive director of the Manufacturers' Health and Safety Association, based in Rocky View, Alta., says the manufacturing sector uses products — including solvents, acids, caustic soda, paints, lacquers and paint thin- ners — that contain chemicals that can be hazardous to skin. In the industrial sector generally, mechanical irritation presents another hazard. Fric- tion from handling parts, minor cuts and abrasions can break down the skin's outer layer, SKIN DEEP By Linda Johnson WORKERS IN MANUFACTURING FACE SERIOUS SKIN CONDITIONS DUE TO CONTACT WITH HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES 20 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com includes prolonged use of gloves because the hands can perspire in the gloves," she says. Allergic contact dermatitis results when a worker comes in contact with a skin allergen. The worker must fi rst be sensitized to the allergen before the reaction can occur. The reac- tion may not be limited to the area of contact with the allergen but may spread over large areas of the body. The effects can be long-lasting and hinder a person's ability to continue working. Common sensitizers are epoxy resins, formaldehyde, nickel, wood dust, fl our, printing plates, chemicals, adhesives and cement. Health effects to the skin are often divided into local- ized problems — such as chemical burns and physical trauma, including bruises and punctures — and systemic problems, which result when a contamin- ant is absorbed into the skin and goes to a target organ or the nervous system, according to Dhananjai Borwankar, technical specialist at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton. Some solvents can cause harmful effects on the heart, others on the kidneys. For example, the industrial use of benzene has been proven to cause cancer in humans. Lorne Kleppe, executive director of the Manufacturers' Health and Safety Association, based in Rocky View, Alta., says the manufacturing sector uses products — including solvents, acids, caustic soda, paints, lacquers and paint thin- ners — that contain chemicals that can be hazardous to skin. In the industrial sector generally, mechanical irritation presents another hazard. Fric- tion from handling parts, minor cuts and abrasions can break down the skin's outer layer,