Introduction. At the Russian gas transportation enterprises, we traditionally consider a noise as the main harmful production factor. Long-term work activity under its influence is associated with the risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss, which, with progression, entails loss of professional suitability. Risk factors for the development of sensorineural hearing loss at an enterprise of this profile operating in territories equated to the Far North are also arterial hypertension and an increase in total cholesterol. In such a situation, the prevention of hearing loss, adapted to the specifics of the work of the leading professional groups of the gas transportation enterprise, is of particular importance. In connection with these circumstances, the researchers developed and tested a comprehensive program for the prevention of the development and progression of sensorineural hearing loss, which contributed to the correction of risk factors.

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the long-term implementation of a comprehensive medical program for the prevention of the development and progression of chronic sensorineural hearing loss, correction of arterial hypertension and total cholesterol levels in employees of the main production of a gas transportation enterprise operating in conditions equated to the Far North.

Materials and methods. Over a 10-year period, we have tracked the dynamics of the health status of 120 employees of the main production, whose work activities took place under the influence of industrial noise with an intensity from 50 to 94 dBA during a comprehensive program of medical prevention of the development and progression of sensorineural hearing loss. Preventive measures consisted of: a course of drug therapy, physiotherapy procedures with the use of transcranial electrical stimulation, rational nutrition, phytotherapy, physical therapy, classes in the format of a "Healthy lifestyle School" in order to form the patient's motivation to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Results. Out of 96 workers with normal hearing, six people (6.25%) had hearing loss up to the first degree, which does not yet entail loss of professional suitability. Among 24 specialists with initially reduced hearing (from signs of noise exposure to hearing loss by second degree), the audiogram did not change in 3 people, in 15 people specialists observed improvement within one degree, in 6 people — progression in the same dimension. The proportion of patients with arterial hypertension and hypercholesterolemia did not change significantly, but we observed a significant decrease in the proportion of obese patients.

Conclusion. Thus, we have shown the possibility of preventing the persistent loss of professional of workers caused by the development of sensorineural hearing loss in the degree from moderate to higher.

Limitations. At enterprises operating in other climatic zones and using less noise-hazardous equipment, other results may be obtained.

Contribution:Ikonnikova N.V. — collecting and processing material, writing text;Grebenkov S.V. — concept and design of the study, analysis of results, editing;Boyko I.V. — concept and design of the study, analysis of results, editing;Andreenko O.N. — analysis of the results, writing the text.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 15.05.2023 / Accepted: 21.05.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

Introduction. The level of occupational morbidity associated with the effects of physical overload and overstrain of individual organs and systems indicates the need for timely and effective prevention, one of the means of which is the introduction of a promising type of PPE — industrial exoskeletons. Since there are no clear requirements and criteria of their safety and efficiency, all the researches in this field are of experimental character, which dictates the necessity of testing each particular type of exoskeleton in relation to the performance of certain labor operations.

The study aims assess the influence of using industrial exoskeleton for support of upper limbs on the arm and shoulder girdle muscles fatigue.

Materials and methods. The researchers used the presented industrial exoskeleton designed to reduce the load on the upper limbs when performing work above the level of the user's head. Eleven healthy volunteers participated in the study. In laboratory conditions, the authors simulated labor activity similar to work on an automobile conveyor with a gravity class 3.2. During the work, both without the use of an industrial exoskeleton and with its use, scientists measured the bioelectric activity of the muscles of the upper extremities and shoulder girdle on both sides using surface EMG. In addition, before and after the work, the authors performed myotonometry and dynamometry in order to register the biomechanical properties of the studied muscles, as well as strength and endurance of the hands.

Results. As a result of recording the EMG-signal, scientists found that the activity of the anterior deltoid muscle on the right and the biceps muscle of the shoulder on the right when using an industrial exoskeleton in work is reduced by more than 50%. The indicators of endurance and strength recorded during dynamometry decreased after performing work both with and without an exoskeleton, from 1% to 36%, but their dynamics did not fully correspond to classical ideas about the development of muscle fatigue. The analysis of myotonometry data did not show statistically significant changes in the parameters of the studied muscles.

Limitations. The limitations of this study are: a small sample size (eleven volunteers), the lack of calculation of the sample size, the use of a small set of used biomedical methods for assessing the human condition.

Conclusion. The use of the studied industrial exoskeleton when performing simulated labor operations reduces the bioelectric activity of the main muscles involved in the work, which proves its effectiveness. The developed technique of surface EMG can be used in the future when carrying out such work. Dynamometry and myotonometry did not show sufficient sensitivity in the study, which necessitates the development of special techniques for solving similar problems.

Ethics. The Local Ethics Committee of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health have approved the Protocol of the study (the protocol No.3 dated 04/20/2022).

Contribution:
Shuporin E.S. — the concept and design of the study, data collection and processing, writing and editing of text;
Novozhilova A.A. — the concept and design of the study, data collection and processing, writing and editing of text;
Geregey A.M. — the concept and design of the study, writing and editing of text;
Shitova E.S. — the concept and design of the study, data collection and processing, writing and editing of text;
Nikiforuk A.I. — data collection and processing, writing and editing of text;
Podoprosvetov A.V. — the concept and design of the study, data collection and processing;
Orlov I.A. — the concept and design of the study, data collection and processing, writing and editing of text.

Funding. This work was funded by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 18-71-10112 P).

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 07.06.2023 / Accepted: 30.06.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

 

Relevance. The diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is important in occupational health. The syndrome is accompanied by drowsiness during work and, thereby, creates serious prerequisites for reducing professional ability to work, the occurrence of production errors, accidents. The OSAS  is closely related to clinical conditions: obesity, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, diabetes mellitus, which doctors take into account during periodic medical examinations when determining admission to work with harmful and/or dangerous production factors. For specialists in the operator professions, researchers consider OSAS as a threat to the health of employees and others.

The study aims is to explore a set of criteria-based signs of OSAS risk for the scientific justification of the identification of target groups of workers subject to in-depth examination to establish/exclude this diagnosis.

Materials and methods. We have conducted a comprehensive clinical and instrumental examination of 204 railway transport employees out of 986 examined in the hospital for expert purposes to detect increased daytime sleepiness (according to the Epworth index), OSAS, including polysomnography, cardiorespiratory monitoring (CRM). The specialists have analyzed the structure of the criteria risk signs by the method of the main components in the groups of workers of operator and non-operator professions.

Results. According to polysomnography or CRM data, 118 employees had OSAS, including 51% of them with moderate to severe severity. Along with drowsiness and snoring , scientists have identified two groups of risk factors: 1) clinical — obesity (BMI>30 kg/m2), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart rhythm disturbances at night, gender; 2) professional — work experience, high intensity of work, work in night shifts. The sign of daytime sleepiness (according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) was insufficiently informative in both study groups. In the structure of clinical signs, the largest leading factors were: obesity, hypertension.

Limitations. To assess drowsiness as a marker of OSAS, scientists used only the Epworth sleepiness scale; other questionnaires (for example, STOP-Bang, Stanford Sleepiness Scale, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) were not used in this work.

Conclusions. In operator professions, when conducting mandatory medical examinations, it is necessary to determine the risk of OSAS by a set of certain clinical and professional signs. When concluding that there is a risk of developing this condition, further in-depth examination is necessary to confirm the diagnosis.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with the Ethical principles of conducting medical research with the participation of a person as a subject, set out in the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association of the last revision.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

 Received: 19.02.2023 / Accepted: 27.06.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

Introduction. The impact of high work stress loads on medical workers of children's medical organizations contributes to the formation of fatigue and overwork, especially in modern working conditions, which determines the relevance of these studies.

The study aims to develop methodological approaches to the quantitative assessment of functional fatigue under the influence of neuropsychiatric and visually stressful loads in medical workers for the differentiated justification of preventive measures.

Materials and methods. The researchers conducted comprehensive physiological and hygienic studies of medical workers in various work activities (in pediatric intensive care, surgery), aimed at hygienic assessment of the intensity of the labor process, physiological study of the state of the cardiovascular system with the study of the characteristics of the response to functional load (ECG registration on a 12-channel electrocardiograph and continuously using Holter monitoring). The authors have studied the physiological state of the central nervous system and the visual analyzer according to generally accepted methods. We have carried out a total of 2,700 measurements of psychophysiological indicators. Static processing of the received data was carried out using statistical programs STATISTICA 10, Microsoft Excel 2010.

Results. Medical workers have high nervous-emotional and visual loads when watching video terminal screens. This leads to negative dynamics of the time of perception of sequential contrast (TPSC), a decrease in visual function. The time of onset and the depth of adverse changes depend on the degree of intensity of visual labor.

We have established the same level of effectiveness of the functions of concentration of attention, short-term memory, perception of simple and complex visual signals in the daytime and at night. The daily curve of indicators does not correspond to the natural curve of the daily rhythm.

Surgeons and nurses had a strain on the regulatory mechanisms of the circulatory system, a slowdown in the recovery period of all indicators after functional load in the night shift compared with daytime hours of work.

Conclusion. Pronounced loads on the visual analyzer when watching video terminal screens against the background of nervous and emotional labor stress are the leading professional factors and determine the formation of the functional state of overwork of the first degree in nurses and the second degree in surgeons.

Limitations. There are quantitative restrictions due to the number of medical personnel in the intensive care unit.

Ethics. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee of Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health (Protocol No. 4 of 04/14/2021).

Contribution:
Zaitseva A.V. — data collection and processing, text writing;
Serikov V.V. — the concept and design of the study;
Yushkova O.I. — writing, editing;
Kapustina A.V. — data collection and processing, analysis of material on medical personnel.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 09.04.2023 / Accepted: 11.04.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

 

Introduction. Over the past decades, scientists have been studying questions about the phenomenal similarity of the nervous and immune systems, as systems that ensure an adequate response of the body to environmental changes, the impact of production factors.

The study aims to assess the phenotypic composition of lymphocytes, cytokines and the level of constant potential of the brain in patients with vibration disease (VD) due to the impact of local vibration.

Materials and methods. The authors have conducted a neuro-immunological examination of 26 men with vibration disease formed when exposed to local vibration. The comparison group consisted of 15 men who were not exposed to vibration in their professional activities. The authors determined cytokine status indicators (IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, INF-γ) in serum by a solid-phase enzyme immunosorbent method. Registration of DC-potential level was carried out using the neuro-energy mapping method.

Results. We have established a relationship between the increased content of CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD95⁺ and IL-8 immunocompetent cells with an increase in DC-potential level in the frontal (central, right and left hemispheres), central cortical, right-left parietal parts of the brain. The researchers also established a relationship between a reduced content of CD20⁺, INF-γ and increased levels of DC-potential level in the right and left temporal, left parietal lobes of the brain in patients with VD from local vibration.

Limitations. The disadvantage of this work is the small groups of employees.

Conclusion. The revealed correlations of the content of immunological indicators with an increase of DC-potential level in various parts of the brain in the examined patients may indicate that the formation of vibrational pathology is accompanied by both shifts in peripheral cellular immunity and violations of the hemeostatic stability of intercentral relations in the cerebral cortex, which may be a sign of the neuroinflammatory process and the development of cytotoxic reactions.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with Ethical standards in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association.

Contribution:
Boklazhenko E.V. — research concepts and design, data collection and processing, writing the text;
Bodienkova G.M. — research concepts and design, data collection and processing, writing the text, editing;
Shevchenko O.I. — data collection and processing, writing the text.

Funding. The work was carried out at the expense of financial resources allocated within the Framework of the State Task of the East-Siberian Institute of Medical and Ecological Research.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 29.05.2023 / Accepted: 05.06.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

Introduction. Occupational polyneuropathy of the upper extremities, associated with the effects of physical overload, occurs quite often in agricultural workers and is a typical disease requiring rehabilitation measures.

The study aims to research the clinical features of occupational pathology and comorbidity of occupational polyneuropathy in female agricultural workers to improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation.

Materials and methods. The authors have studied the features of occupational pathology and the prevalence of common diseases in two groups of female agricultural workers who were diagnosed with occupational polyneuropathy from the effects of physical overload: milkmaids (50 people) and greenhouse workers (56 people). In these groups, all the subjects are women.

Results. Despite the significant difference in labor in livestock and crop production, in their professional activities, both groups of female workers had a combined effect of several harmful production factors, such as stereotypical work movements, static loads on their hands, causing the development of professional polyneuropathy from physical overload. In the examined groups, radiculopathy of the lumbosacral level prevailed among the concomitant occupational diseases of milkmaids (60%), pathology of the musculoskeletal system prevailed in greenhouse workers (62.5%). Of the common diseases, female workers had ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, dorsopathies and deforming osteoarthritis of various localizations.

Limitations. At agricultural enterprises with a different technology of work (poultry farms, field work in a hot climate), the nature of occupational pathology in workers may differ significantly from that described in the article.

Conclusions. These features of comorbidity should be taken into account when planning measures for medical and professional rehabilitation of patients.

Ethics. This study does not require the submission of the conclusion of the Biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contribution:
Loginova N.N. — research concept and design, data processing, text writing;
Boyko I.V. — concept and design of the study, the text writing;
Grebenkov S.V. — concept and design of the study;
Balunov V.D. — editing;
Kolesnikova V.A. — data collection.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 17.05.2023 / Accepted: 14.07.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

Introduction. The high concentration of production facilities on the territory of the Kemerovo region — Kuzbass contributes to the fact that the population living in large industrial cities is affected by a high level of atmospheric pollution.

The aim of the study to assess the risk to public health from air pollution from stationary sources in the cities of Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk.

Materials and methods. To assess the risk we used the average of the average annual concentrations of pollutants for 2017–2021 were used. Hazard coefficients and indices, as well as carcinogenic risk, are determined according to the Guidelines 2.1.10.1920-04. The risk of chronic intoxication was determined according to the method of A.P. Shcherbo and co-authors.

Results. Average concentrations of benz(a)pyrene exceed the hygienic standard by 3.0 times in the atmosphere of Kemerovo and by 5.8 times in Novokuznetsk. The total risk of chronic intoxication associated with atmospheric air pollution in the city of Kemerovo exceeds the acceptable level by 10.6 times, in Novokuznetsk — by 14.4 times. Benz(a)pyrene makes the greatest contribution to the formation of the risk level of chronic intoxication, accounting for 28.8% in Kemerovo and 38.4% in Novokuznetsk. The hazard indices exceed the acceptable value by 7.2 times in Kemerovo and 11.0 times in Novokuznetsk. 

The main critical organs and systems most at risk are the respiratory organs, the immune system, and blood. The carcinogenic risk to the health of residents of Kemerovo exceeded the acceptable level by 1.43 times, Novokuznetsk — by 1.56 times. The main contribution to the formation of the level of carcinogenic risk in both cities is made by formaldehyde (83.9% — in Kemerovo and 70.5% — in Novokuznetsk).

Limitations. The researchers have used data from official reports to calculate public health risks.

Conclusion. Both industrial centers have a high level of atmospheric air pollution, which leads to the formation of risks to public health. The authors have identified the most unfavorable situation in Novokuznetsk.

Ethics. This study did not require the conclusion of the Ethics Committee.

Contribution:
Kislitsyna V.V. — concept and design of the study, writing the text;
Likontseva Yu.S. — data collection and processing, text writing;
Surzhikov D.V. — editing;
Golikov R.A. — data collection and processing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 28.04.2023 / Accepted: 10.05.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

 

Introduction. The state of drinking water supplied to consumers through centralized water supply systems is an important factor affecting health.

The study aims to assess the risk to the health of the population of an industrial city associated with the content of chemicals in tap water.

Materials and methods. Scientists conducted a study in Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo region, which is a major industrial center of Siberia. They analyzed the average annual values of chemical, microbiological and parasitological indicators of surface waters at the intake gates, as well as the results of studies of drinking water samples. The authors also assessed non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to public health associated with contamination of tap water.

Results. The surface water supplied to the consumers of Novokuznetsk is taken from the Tom River by the Dragoon and Left-Bank water intakes. The main pollutants of water in the intake gates are suspended solids, iron, common coliform bacteria, thermotolerant coliform bacteria and coliphages. The most dangerous impurities contained in drinking water are silicon, chloroform, bromodichloromethane, boron and formaldehyde. The risk of immediate action associated with contamination of drinking water for the city's population was 0.903, which significantly exceeds the acceptable level (0.05). We identified the risk of chronic intoxication associated with water pollution at the level of 0.0176, which does not exceed the permissible level (0.02). The risk of oncological morbidity associated with the content of carcinogenic substances in drinking water was 1.41×10–5, which is 1.41 times higher than the permissible risk (1×10–5).

Limitations. The limitations of the study were to conduct only an assessment of the health risk from the effects of chemicals.

Conclusion. The probability of occurrence of environmentally caused diseases persists at concentrations of pollutants in drinking water at a level below the accepted hygienic standards.

Ethics. This study did not require the conclusion of the Ethics Committee.

Contribution:
Surzhikov D.V. — research concept and design, text writing, editing;
Kislitsyna V.V. — writing the text;
Steiger V.A. — writing the text;
Golikov R.A. — data collection and processing;
Korsakova T.G. — data collection and processing;
Motuz I.Yu. — data collection and processing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 28.04.2023 / Accepted: 27.06.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023

 

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Received: 11.05.2023 / Accepted: 27.06.2023 / Published: 05.08.2023