Quantitative risk assessment of occupational exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds in the oil-dependent chemical industry

Background and Personal exposure to volatile organic compounds can cause variety of adverse health effects, containing a large range from non-cancer effects up to cancer. The purpose of this study was quantitative risk assessment of occupational exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds in the oil-dependent chemical industry. In this cross sectional study NIOSH 1501& 2549 methods were applied for sampling and analyzing the amount of hydrocarbons in the oil-dependents of chemical and after detecting hydrocarbons, the quantitative risk assessment was calculated by United States Environmental Protection Agency method. Also the Hazard Quotient parameter for non-cancer VOCs and Life time Cancer Risk for cancer VOCs were calculated. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS16 software. The Life time Cancer Risk (LCR) of benzene for 13complexes were Definite and for 8 complexes, in all complexes that have been studied, the LCR of benzene were more than threshold limit recommended by WHO. The Lifetime Cancer risk of trichloroethylene in one complex and ethyl benzene in two complexes were Definite. The Hazard Quotient of xylene, chlorobenzene, methyl ethyl ketone and N-hexane in several complexes were more than values recommended by WHO. There are significant relationships between carcinogenic hydrocarbons risk and parameters like age and work history, with the correlation coefficient of 0.336 and 0.409 respectively (P< 0.001). This method ofrisk assessment is comprehensive and achieved results can be used for correcting and controlling prioritization of resources in case of reducing the level of risk.