Hazards can occur at any time, in any setting and without warning. And with what to many would appear seemingly low-risk occupations identified as hazardous, it’s worth reiterating that there is no room for complacency
TIMEBOMB TOXIC
SOUTH ASIA HAS LONG BROUGHT COLOUR TO THE WESTERN WORLD. THE HINDU SPRING FESTIVAL OF COLOURS, FOR example, has been the sort of popular tourist attraction that has made its way to Europe and North America as a Spring celebration of love, fun and colours. Participants delight in turning up dressed head-to-foot in white ready to make a “colour run” in which they are pelted with coloured flour to the delight on onlooking crowds and the charities for which they are raising funds. But behind all the fun and razzmatazz lie serious risks, as was demonstrated at one Taiwan music festival when, due to a combination of confined spaces and the close proximity of stage lighting, the powder ignited sending a fireball through the crowd. Such hazards are extremely rare, thankfully. The base
ingredient is, after all, cornflower with a colour dye. But problems exist if the products used are unregulated and those dyes carry a pigment that can permanently stain
BRIEF | IN DUST, SIZE IS IMPORTANT
Health effects of dust relate mainly to the size of the particles. Dust may contain microscopic solids or liquid droplets small enough to get deep into the lungs. Those less than 2.5 micrometres in aerodynamic diameter (called PM2.5) may get into the bloodstream. Large particles may irritate the nose, throat and eyes. The particle size is a major determinant of how serious the health effect will be.
the lungs. More generally, flour itself is sensitising and
can cause a severe allergic reaction. So it was no surprise that a recent report from a leading material handling specialist ranked bakers and flour confectioners as the most dangerous occupations in the UK alone last year. Extract Solutions recorded an average incidence ratio rate of 18.2 times the norm. Asthma and dermatitis alone were 88.5 times above the average number of incidents seen across all occupations. Asthma cases for bakers equated to 83.1 times that of other occupations. The inhalation of wheat flour, rye flour and dust, among other irritants causing asthma, is so common that ‘Baker’s asthma’ has become a well-known work-related illness. As with certain irritants, such as types of wood dust, the inhalation of flour can cause sensitisation of the lungs and sometimes even result in an allergic response. So it may seem anomalous that chemical scientists appear to be safer at work than cooks and even beauticians. The reason
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