Occupational health risks among the workers employed in leather tanneries at Kanpur

• Published in: Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 132 - 135
• Main Authors: Rastogi, SubodhKumar, Pandey, Amit, Tripathi, Sachin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.09.2008; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Chromium compounds; Diagnosis; Environmental aspects; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Larynx; Leather industry; Lung diseases; Musculoskeletal system; Occupational safety; Original; Risk factors; Socioeconomic factors; Workers; India; India, Uttar Pradesh, Unnao Dist., Kanpur; Chromium; health risk; leather tanneries; morbidity
• ISSN: 0973-2284; 1998-3670; 1998-3670
• DOI: 10.4103/0019-5278.44695

In a cross-sectional study, a random sample of 197 male workers drawn from different sections of 10 leather tanneries in Kanpur were selected for the assessment of health risks. A control group comprising of 117 male subjects belonging to a similar age group and socioeconomic strata, who never had any occupational exposure in the leather tanneries, were also examined for the comparison purpose. The findings revealed a significantly higher prevalence of morbidity among the exposed workers in contrast to that observed in the controls (40.1% vs. 19.6%). The respiratory diseases (16.7%) were mainly responsible for a higher morbidity among the exposed workers whereas the gastrointestinal tract problems were predominant in the control group. The urinary and blood samples collected from the exposed group showed significantly higher levels of chromium, thereby reflecting the body burden of Cr in the exposed workers as a result of a high concentration of environmental Cr at the work place.