A cross sectional study of employees with potential occupational exposure to ethylene oxide

A cross sectional study was conducted on 84 employees potentially exposed to ethylene oxide (EO) to determine whether they had a higher prevalence of abnormalities of the haematopoietic, hepatic, or renal systems than a control group individually matched on age, hire date, race, smoking habits, alcohol history, and date of examination. Potential exposures were estimated to be generally below the current threshold limit value of 10 ppm, with most below 1 ppm. Results of the haematological and biochemical studies were similar in the two groups. A statistically significant (p = 0.035) increase in the prevalence of proteinuria was noted among the EO group which warrants further investigation.