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Occupational 50 Hz magnetic field exposure measurements among female sewing machine operators in Hungary
Author(s) -
Szabó J.,
Mezei K.,
Thuróczy G.,
Mezei G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.20223
Subject(s) - sewing machine , occupational exposure , medicine , mathematics , audiology , demography , engineering , mechanical engineering , environmental health , sociology
Abstract Occupational magnetic field (MF) exposure is less thoroughly characterized in occupations typically held by women. Our objective was to characterize occupational 50 Hz MF personal exposure (PE) among female sewing machine operators. We measured the full shift PE of 51 seamstresses, who worked in two shifts (6–14 and 14–22 h) according to their normal work routine. Measurements were conducted using EMDEX PAL meters at chest level. The average duration of the measurement periods was 449 min (range 420–470). The average arithmetic mean exposure for all women was 0.76 µT (range 0.06–4.27). The average of maximum values was 4.30 µT (range 0.55–14.80). Women working with older sewing machines experienced higher exposure than women working on newer sewing machines. For women ( n = 10) who operated sewing machines produced in 1990 or earlier, the average arithmetic mean exposure was 2.09 µT, and for women ( n = 41) who operated sewing machines produced after 1990, the average arithmetic mean was 0.43 µT. We conclude that women working as sewing machine operators experience higher than average occupational MF exposure compared to other working women. Most important determinant of the women's personal MF exposure was the age of the sewing machine the women operated. Bioelectromagnetics 27:451–457, 2006.© 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.