Esposizione professionale a cromo nella produzione aeronautica: caso studio

The occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium, a well known carcinogenic agent, involves biological monitoring investigations for workers’ healthcare, by measuring Cr concentrations in end-shift urine collected at the end of the week (CrU) and the difference of Cr concentrations in before and end-shift urine (CrU). In aeronautics, primers (often containing CrVI) are used in various phases of the aircraft’s production cycle. The modules that will constitute the aircraft are initially coated with primers, than they are assembled and painted. The occupational exposure of workers directly handling CrVI products is evident, nevertheless, in the case of workers assigned to modules assembly (aircraft fitters), it should be verified. With this aim, a biological monitoring investigation was performed on 137 aircraft fitters, and CrU and CrU levels were measured by graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectroscopy. The obtained results show CrU and CrU levels lower than BEIs proposed by ACGIH and higher than the Reference Values found in populations not occupationally exposed to CrVI. These finding suggest that the risk assessment aimed to evaluate the occupational exposure to hazardous chemical agents must also take into account work-tasks that are not directly related with the handling of the investigated risk agent.