Plastic industry and exposure to carcinogenic chemical agents: an Italian multicentric study in Lombardy

The potential carcinogenic risk at the workplaces is a primary interest of occupational health, but some questions are also controversially discussed. Particularly, in the plastic forming industry a great attention was directed to the hot processing and their possible exposure to monomers, some of which were classified as carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and/or the European Union (EU). In Lombardy, a study on occupational exposure to chemical carcinogens in the plastic forming industry was planned during last years. The aim was to recognize and promote preventive technical and medical solutions, basing on efficacy. By an investigation at workplace supported with standardized questionnaires, the presence of chemical carcinogens was registered in 59% of a representative sample of firms; but an effective possibility of exposure was found only for 34% of cases. The evaluation of exposure to monomers by air monitoring (acrylonitrile, 1,3-butadiene, styrene, formaldehyde), involving a representative sample of factory with ABS and formaldehydic resins processing, showed low level exposure, because the common hygienic prevention measures were applied; some particular occupation shoved greater exposure to formaldehyde.