Occupational health experience with organic additives

For many decades, interest in occupational medicine has been focused on the wide variety of organic additives, which includes a large number of substances, for example, dyestuffs, pigments, and auxiliaries for the textile, leather, and paper industries. The reason is that, if the recommended precautions are not observed, there is a risk of exposure to most of these substances during both production and use. Moreover, over the years, some additives have caused concern and aroused suspicion regarding adverse effects on health. In order to deal with health problems in this field, it is important to be aware of how, what, and where occupational diseases or accidents arise. Much knowledge has been gained about these, and it would be an impossible task to give a systematic survey of the data that have accumulated, especially since it is necessary to take account of the problem of exposure to more than one substance. Thus an attempt is made to report on occupational health experience in general, and to demonstrate how an industrial hygienist may approach the many and various problems. Some epidemiological studies on organic additives (auramine, anthraquinone dyestuffs, organic dyes, etc.) are discussed.