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Human susceptibility to outdoor hot environment.
Jayashree Sen1, Pranab Kumar Nag1
1Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur, Kolkata 700103, India.
The Science of the Total Environment
|September 5, 2018
Summary
This study assessed heat stress in Indian farmworkers using various thermal indices. Results show significant heat stress from March to April, with females reporting more symptoms, highlighting the need for a new climatic susceptibility indicator.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Occupational Health
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Farmworkers in tropical regions face significant heat exposure during agricultural activities.
- Existing human thermal indices vary in their assessment of heat stress due to differing parameters.
- Understanding human susceptibility to heat is crucial for mitigating heat-related illnesses in outdoor workers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of multiple human thermal indices (WBGT, HI, Humidex, UTCI, PET, SET*, PMV) in categorizing heat susceptibility.
- To compare thermal stress levels identified by different indices during paddy and potato cropping seasons.
- To investigate the relationship between thermoregulatory responses (Esk) and heat-related symptoms in farmworkers.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 1144 farmworkers in eastern India.
- Analysis of various thermal indices and their correlation with objective and subjective heat-related symptoms.
- Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify key components of heat-related responses.
Main Results:
- Indices showed dissimilar temperature estimations due to varying parameter weights.
- March and April indicated strong to very strong heat stress, while December and January were comfortable.
- A significant number of farmworkers experienced moderate to high heat-related symptoms, particularly females.
- Esk parameter indicated a direct relationship between increasing environmental warmth and evaporative heat loss.
- PCA identified physical fatigue, neural stressors, and behavioral effects as primary heat response components.
Conclusions:
- Different thermal indices provide varying assessments of heat stress, necessitating careful selection for occupational health.
- A defined Esk threshold (~200 W/sq·m) corresponds to a comfortable thermal range, with deviations leading to heat strain.
- A generalized quantitative climatic susceptibility indicator, derived from PCA, could be valuable for assessing heat risk in similar environments.
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