吸入性粉塵中のインジウム個人曝露濃度(In-E, μg/m3)と生物学的モニタリング指標である血清インジウム濃度(In-S, μg/L)の関係を検討するため, 11事業所39名の作業者の協力を得た。対象者は, 職種ごとに高温溶解作業(n=7), ITO研削作業(n=6), その他(n=26)と3群に分けた。In-EとIn-Sの範囲は, 0.039-24.0と0.1-8.50であった。職種ごとの単相関係数は, 高温溶解作業, 研削作業, その他で, 0.489, 0.812と 0.163であった。職種ごとの異なる結果は, 曝露するインジウム化合物の化学形態によりIn-S濃度が異なる可能性を示唆していると考えられた。
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between indium exposure concentration in the respirable dust fraction (In-E) and indium in serum (In-S) in workers. A total of 39 workers were studied. The study subjects were categorized into 3 groups, namely, smelting workers (n=7), ITO workers (n=6) in an ITO grinding plant, and other workers (n=26). In-E and In-S ranged from 0.039-24.0μg/m3 and 0.1- 8.50μg/L. The simple regression equation was log (In-S)=0.322×log (In-E)-0.443. The simple correlation coefficients for the smelting workers, ITO workers and other workers were 0.489, 0.812 and 0.163, respectively. The differences in the relationships among the three groups suggest that In-S may vary with the chemical form to which the workers were exposed. In-E and In-S seem to be positively correlated, but more data are needed to draw final conclusions.
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