IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i13p7052-d586863.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Presumed Exposure to Chemical Pollutants and Experienced Health Impacts among Warehouse Workers at Logistics Companies: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Szabolcs Lovas

    (Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 26 Kassai Street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary
    Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Károly Nagy

    (Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 26 Kassai Street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • János Sándor

    (Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 26 Kassai Street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Balázs Ádám

    (Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 26 Kassai Street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary
    Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 17666, United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

During intercontinental shipping, freight containers and other closed transport devices are applied. These closed spaces can be polluted with various harmful chemicals that may accumulate in poorly ventilated environments. The major pollutants are residues of pesticides used for fumigation as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from the goods. While handling cargos at logistics companies, workers can be exposed to these pollutants, frequently without adequate occupational health and safety precautions. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among potentially exposed warehouse workers and office workers as controls at Hungarian logistics companies (1) to investigate the health effects of chemical pollutants occurring in closed spaces of transportation and storage and (2) to collect information about the knowledge of and attitude toward workplace chemical exposures as well as the occupational health and safety precautions applied. Pre-existing medical conditions did not show any significant difference between the working groups. Numbness or heaviness in the arms and legs (AOR = 3.99; 95% CI = 1.72–9.26) and dry cough (AOR = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.09–4.93) were significantly associated with working in closed environments of transportation and storage, while forgetfulness (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.18–0.87), sleep disturbances (AOR = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.17–0.78), and tiredness after waking up (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.20–0.79) were significantly associated with employment in office. Warehouse workers who completed specific workplace health and safety training had more detailed knowledge related to this workplace chemical issue (AOR = 8.18; 95% CI = 3.47–19.27), and they were significantly more likely to use certain preventive measures. Warehouse workers involved in handling cargos at logistics companies may be exposed to different chemical pollutants, and the related health risks remain unknown if the presence of these chemicals is not recognized. Applied occupational health and safety measures at logistics companies are not adequate enough to manage this chemical safety issue, which warrants awareness raising and the introduction of effective preventive strategies to protect workers’ health at logistics companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Szabolcs Lovas & Károly Nagy & János Sándor & Balázs Ádám, 2021. "Presumed Exposure to Chemical Pollutants and Experienced Health Impacts among Warehouse Workers at Logistics Companies: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:13:p:7052-:d:586863
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/7052/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/7052/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tiina Mattila & Tiina Santonen & Helle Raun Andersen & Andromachi Katsonouri & Tamás Szigeti & Maria Uhl & Wojciech Wąsowicz & Rosa Lange & Beatrice Bocca & Flavia Ruggieri & Marike Kolossa-Gehring & , 2021. "Scoping Review—The Association between Asthma and Environmental Chemicals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Natasha B. Scott & Nicola S. Pocock, 2021. "The Health Impacts of Hazardous Chemical Exposures among Child Labourers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-34, May.
    3. Angelica I. Tiotiu & Silviya Novakova & Marina Labor & Alexander Emelyanov & Stefan Mihaicuta & Plamena Novakova & Denislava Nedeva, 2020. "Progress in Occupational Asthma," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-19, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gaige Hunter Kerr & Michelle Meyer & Daniel L. Goldberg & Joshua Miller & Susan C. Anenberg, 2024. "Air pollution impacts from warehousing in the United States uncovered with satellite data," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Florența-Elena Helepciuc & Arpad Todor, 2022. "Evaluating the EU’s Efforts to Improve Resilience to Health and Environmental Risks Associated with Pesticide Use by Analyzing the National Action Plans of EU Member States from 2009 to 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-9, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haruna Musa Moda & Daniel Mensah Anang & Newton Moses & Felix Mandoli Manjo & Victoria Ibukun Joshua & Nwadike Christopher & Paulina Doka & Mela Danjin, 2022. "Pesticide Safety Awareness among Rural Farmers in Dadinkowa, Gombe State, Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-10, October.
    2. Aye Myat Thi & Cathy Zimmerman & Nicola S. Pocock & Clara W. Chan & Meghna Ranganathan, 2021. "Child Domestic Work, Violence, and Health Outcomes: A Rapid Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-33, December.
    3. Antonio Ramón Gómez-García & Andrea Liseth Cevallos Paz & Diemen Delgado-Garcia & Danilo Martínez Jimbo, 2024. "Ecuadorian Provinces with High Morbidity and Mortality Rates Due to Asthma among the Working-Age Population: An Ecological Study to Promote Respiratory Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-9, July.
    4. Guillaume Sit & Noémie Letellier & Yuriko Iwatsubo & Marcel Goldberg & Bénédicte Leynaert & Rachel Nadif & Céline Ribet & Nicolas Roche & Yves Roquelaure & Raphaëlle Varraso & Marie Zins & Alexis Desc, 2021. "Occupational Exposures to Organic Solvents and Asthma Symptoms in the CONSTANCES Cohort," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Jun Ueyama & Mai Hayashi & Masaaki Hirayama & Hiroshi Nishiwaki & Mikako Ito & Isao Saito & Yoshio Tsuboi & Tomohiko Isobe & Kinji Ohno, 2022. "Effects of Pesticide Intake on Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Healthy Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Hasna Hena Sara & Anisur Rahman Bayazid & Zahidul Quayyum, 2022. "Occupational Health Sufferings of Child Waste Workers in South Asia: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-24, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:13:p:7052-:d:586863. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.