American journal of industrial medicine
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The Kuopio Regional Institute of Occupational Health, in collaboration with the Social Insurance Institution and the National Board of Health, conducted and evaluated a national model for the farmers' occupational health services. In January 1985 the National Board of Health instructed the Finnish municipal health centers to start the provision of farmers' occupational health services based on the recommendation given by the research group. The service was evaluated by experiments carried out during 1982, 1985, and 1986. ⋯ Farmers' knowledge about the appropriate means of reducing hazardous exposures had increased significantly due to the occupational health services. At the local level, the main problem in providing services for occupational farmers is that health centers do not have the resources to offer services for all farmers at the same time. Altogether by the end of 1986, about 30% of all active farmers in Finland (45,000 farmers) were willing to have occupational health services, which is voluntary for self-employed farmers.
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Cholinesterase activity measurements for 542 California agricultural pesticide applicators under medical supervision during the first 9 months of 1985 were analyzed. Twenty-six workers, 4.8% of the sample, had cholinesterase values at or below the California threshold values for removal from continued exposure to cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides (60% of baseline for red blood cell cholinesterase and 50% of baseline for plasma cholinesterase activity). Eight of these 26 workers, 31.5%, had pesticide-related illnesses. Pesticides most frequently associated with cholinesterase depressions exceeding California threshold values included mevinphos (Phosdrin), oxydemeton methyl (Metasystox-R), methomyl (Lannate), and acephate (Orthene); these pesticides included organophosphates in toxicity categories I and II and one carbamate in toxicity category I.
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Eighteen female and 18 male students (21-30 years) slept in the lab during 12 consecutive nights each, where a high-density road traffic noise was played back with four intensities. EEG and EOG were recorded continuously throughout the nights. In the morning the subjects assessed their sleep and completed a reaction time test. ⋯ Noise-induced sleep disturbances were not related to sex. The equivalent sound pressure level measured for high-density road traffic seems to be a valuable predictor for subjective sleep disturbances as long as the maximum levels do not exceed it by more than 8-10 dBA. On the basis of the assessment of sleep and supported by the abrupt decrease of REM sleep, an equivalent noise level of 40 dBA indoors was defined as a critical load, above which nocturnal noise cannot be tolerated any longer.