RUDN University doctors conducted the first large-scale study of occupational diseases of workers in the electrolysis production of nickel. The most common diseases were bronchitis and asthma, and the most vulnerable group were cleaners of finished products. The results are published in Scientific Reports.
Nickel is an important industrial metal found in stainless steel, batteries and chemicals, for example. However, nickel is toxic to humans, and its carcinogenic and allergic effects are known. In nickel plants, workers are exposed to this metal in the form of dust or soluble compounds. Although the health hazards in such plants are known, there is still little data on how many workers suffer from related illnesses. RUDN doctors conducted a large-scale study and provided the first information.
“Nickel electrolysis workers are exposed to water soluble nickel and its insoluble salts in the dust. The health effects of nickel are widely described in the medical literature as toxic, allergic, and carcinogenic. Chronic respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma have also been found. However, chronic inflammatory diseases are poorly understood in these workers. Cases of occupational diseases have never been systematically analyzed in the international literature in English. Therefore, our goal was to monitor the nickel electrolysis workers,” Denis Vinnikov, MD, Professor of the Department of Biochemistry named after academician T.T. Berezov, RUDN University.
For 12 years, from 2008 to 2020, doctors monitored 1,397 employees of nickel electrolysis shops. Most of them (68%) were men, and the mean age was 39 years. Every year, employees undergo periodic medical examinations. Confirmed cases of various diseases were found in several groups of workers, including electrolysis operators, hydrometallurgists, crane operators, final product cleaners, metalworkers, electricians and others. The most vulnerable were finished products cleaners.
At the 2008 medical examination, the total number of diagnoses was 3744. Over the next 12 years, from 1 to 44 so-called occupational diseases were added to the existing ones every year. A total of 87 (6.7%) of the studied workers received such a disease during the observation period. Among them, the majority (57) had chronic bronchitis, another 26 had bronchial asthma, and 15 had hearing loss. The rarest diseases were osteoarthritis, contact dermatitis and cancer, only two cases each. RUDN doctors assessed the impact of other possible factors on the likelihood of gaining a diagnosis of occupational disease. No gender differences were found, but, for example, smoking was a significant factor.
“We conducted the first such observation of the detection of occupational diseases in nickel electrolysis workers for such a long time. Respiratory diseases and hearing loss as the most common occupational diseases reflect typical hazards in nickel production. Eliminating these hazards in the workplace could reduce occupational morbidity in the future,” Denis Vinnikov, MD, Professor of the Department of Biochemistry named after Academician T.T. Berezov, RUDN University
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