Determinants of Monoterpene Exposure in the Danish Furniture Industry

Objectives

Individuals working with pine in the furniture industry may be exposed to monoterpenes, which may cause harm to the respiratory system.

We sought to assess the extent to which workers are exposed to monoterpenes and to identify possible determinants of monoterpene exposure in the pine furniture industry in Denmark.

Methods

Passive measurements of the levels of monoterpenes, a-pinene, b-pinene and ∆3-carene (figure 1), were performed on 161 subjects with one sample each from 17 pine furniture factories in Denmark.

Data on potential determinants of exposure were acquired at four hierarchic levels: worker, machine, department, and factory. Univariate analyses and a mixed model were used for assessment of the determinants.

Results

The GM for monoterpene levels was 6.8 mg/m3 and GSD: 2.8 and GM for wood dust was 0.58 mg/m3, GSD 1.49. In the univariate analyses half of the determinants tested were found to be significant, see table 1.

In the multivariate model only three of the potential deter-minants were significant; recirculation of air in workrooms, supplementary cold air intake, and operation of a glue press. They were associated with an increase in exposure levels of 216, 282 and 92% each.

In contrast to the situation with wood dust, we found a majority of the variation, 60%, was attributable to factory level, with little being due to the departmental (19%) and machine (2%) levels. The fixed terms in the model accounted for 26.5% of the total variance.

Conclusion

The determinants of monoterpenes are not the same as those for wood dust exposure, which has implications for the implementation of preventative measures in factories.

In the multivariate model three potential determinants were significant; recirculation of air in workrooms, supplementary cold air intake, and operation of a glue press.