IOHA NEWSLETTERGLOBAL EXPOSURE MANAGER
International OccupationalHygiene Association

Edited by Dr Thomas P Fuller: IOHA president
e-mail: tpfuller1@gmail.com

Updates from the Italian Association ofIndustrial Hygiene (AIDII)
Andrea Spinazzè
e-mail: andrea.spinazze@uninsubria.it
The 37th National Congress of Industrial and Environmental Hygiene,
organised by the Italian Association of Industrial Hygienists (AIDII), washeld from 22 to 24 June 2021. The conference committee delivered
another high-quality event, which was held online for the first time,with five keynote speakers, 60 scientific presentations, seven presentations for the ‘Young Industrial Hygienists’ competition, and morethan 140 attendants.
The conference topics included integrated approaches to risk
assessment and management, exposure assessments of chemicals
and physical agents, repercussions on environmental and occupational
hygiene of climate changes, and COVID-19 risk prevention strategies
and experiences in occupational and community settings.
The opening lecture, entitled ‘The NIOSH perspective on the useof field methodologies and sensors in the occupational field: thechallenge for industrial hygiene 4.0’, was delivered by Dr Emanuele
Cauda, co-director of the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health) Center for Direct Reading and Sensor Technologies.

During the conference, the AIDII members’ meeting was also held.
One of the points of the agenda was the presentation of the resultsof the election that took place in June for the renewal of the National
Board of Directors.
In the future, the AIDII will organise the Incontri Mediterranei(Mediterranean meetings) in the beautiful location of Syracusein Sicily (Italy) from 25 to 26 November 2021. The next National
Congress of Industrial and Environmental Hygiene will be held from22 to 24 November 2022 in Cagliari in Sardinia (Italy). Find more information and a calendar of events at https://www.aidii.it/.

The new AIDII National Board of Directors – top (L-R): Sergio Luzzi (vice-president), Andrea Cattaneo (treasurer),
Andrea Martinelli (councilor), Mariella Carrieri (president); middle (L-R): Piero Lovreglio (councilor), Giovanna Tranfo(councilor), Andrea Spinazzè (councilor), Michele Buonanno (councilor); bottom (L-R): Gianandrea Gino (secretary),
Cristina Aprea (past-president), Anna Cenni (councilor), Patrizia Andreini (councilor), Paolo Sacco (councilor)
Photograph: courtesy of AIDII

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Joint course with the Swiss Society of Occupational
Hygiene (SSOH) and French Society of Occupational
Hygienists (SOFHYT)The Swiss Society of Occupational Hygiene (SSOH) and French Societyof Occupational Hygienists (SOFHYT) are proud to share that theysuccessfully collaborated to offer a professional development course(PDC) in French and in English! This was the first collaboration betweenthe societies. We hope this was just the beginning, as we plan to haveother opportunities to collaborate in the near future.
The course ‘How to define an exposure measurements strategy andinterpret the data via the use of statistical tools’ was held on 21 May
2021 (French version) and 28 May 2021 (English version). The course
was conducted by Prof. Jérôme Lavoué, University of Montreal. There
were approximately 40 participants. Participant feedback was morethan enthusiastic, with overall satisfaction survey results of 84% and93% for the English and French courses, respectively.
“The PDC was excellent, I’m very glad that Jerome started with thebasics and went on step by step.”“Thank you very much for this quality training provided, it
allowed me to make better use of the data collected and also
to put in place a good strategy for preventing the risk of worker
exposure.”

Invitations to the course were sent to association members andit was advertised on LinkedIn. The eight-hour course was open toboth members and non-members of the two societies. The cost wasCHF250 or € 225 for members, and CHF350 or € 320 for non-members,
and was taught via Zoom. It was interactive with poll questions,whereby participants were asked to use their judgment regarding
exposure data, and to conduct exercises using the platform Expostats(www.expostats.ca). There was also a final quiz to ensure that participants had been attentive. The top three participants won Swisschocolates as a motivation.
SSOH and SOFHYT would like to extend a big thank you to allparticipants!

Controlling exposures to prevent occupational lungdisease – the Welding Fume Control Selector Tool
Adrian Parrise-mail: adrian.parris@sellafieldsites.com
After successfully raising awareness about occupational
respiratory risks within the construction industry, the British
Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) launched the Breathe
Freely campaign for the manufacturing sector, with a specificfocus on welding fume exposure. The timing was fortuitous as,
following the launch of the Welding Fume Control Selector Tool,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) publisheda report with the reclassification of welding fume as carcinogenic
to humans.
The Breathe Freely manufacturing campaign approachremained the same, targeting the education of key stakeholders such as managers and supervisors, and the use of this
newfound knowledge to review risk assessments and improve
workplace control of welding fume. The www.breathefreely.org.
uk web portal had a familiar feel and remained the key sourceof educational material. BOHS members united to build theirOccupational Health Southern Africa

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vast experience and technical expertise into practical and easyto-understand information sheets and guidance documents. In
addition to the web portal, the message was shared throughhosting events and webinars.
There was one key addition to this campaign, viz. the introduction of an ambitious vision – the Welding Fume Control Selector
Tool. The concept was simple: the development of a tool which,when you input a key set of welding parameters and scenarios, willtell the user the optimum control solution for the welding fumethat would be generated. So, how did it happen? A panel of experts from industry, consultancies, academia, and the UK Healthand Safety Executive formed a working group to create the tool.

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They identified key welding techniques, e.g. tungsten inert gas(TIG), metal inert gas (MIG), and manual metal arc (MMA) welding, and parameters such as material being welded, duration ofexposure, and size of the work piece, which influence the risk ofexposure. For each combination of these parameters, they thenrecommended the optimum control for the fume being generated.
The challenge was to integrate this information into an easyto-use tool. A committed developer and many hours later, thetool came to fruition. The final control selection is based on theresponses to four basic task-related questions. On answering these,
the tool produces a guidance sheet, outlining the best welding
fume control solution/s for the various common welding tasks. It
could not be simpler!
The working group did not want to provide only the optimum
control solution, but also the key information that the owner anduser would need to obtain and maintain the best performance fromthe system. All this information is provided in easy-to-follow guidance sheets. It was also recognised that, under some circumstances,it may not be possible or affordable to use the optimum control
solution. Therefore, at the end of the guidance sheets, alternative
control solutions are provided.
There is a lot to consider when investing in a new control regime
and, to ensure that businesses can easily navigate the sometimesdaunting processes for purchasing, installing, and commissioning

a control regime, additional management sheets are provided,
which can assist a company in obtaining the maximum return fromtheir investment.
The tool has been accessed by a vast range of users across theworld since it was launched in early 2019, and has received positive
reviews from them. During the Healthy Workplaces Good PracticeAwards at the Healthy Workplaces Summit, held in Bilbao, Spain inautumn 2019, the BOHS was proud to be one of 10 organisations
that received commendations for innovative approaches to managing dangerous substances.
So, what is next for the Welding Fume Control Selector Tool?
The working group has recently met to discuss how the tool andits content can be enhanced and what additional content can beincluded, such as controls for welding outdoors and additional information on local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and general ventilation
design. A programme has been drawn up and working groups arebeing structured to develop the new material. The selector tool has
been a huge success in this welding fume control project and it ishoped that it can be used in other future Breathe Freely campaigns.
If you haven’t already done so, please visit the Welding FumeControl Selector Tool microsite and publicise its existence. Sign up
to receive updates and you will be notified when we make changes
or add content. It is a great example of how we can work together
to make workplaces healthier.

New IOHA communications with the International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
Thomas P. Fuller
e-mail: tpfuller1@gmail.com
Recently, the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA)
Stakeholder Relations Committee initiated conversations with theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer
research arm of the World Health Organization, located in Lyon, France.
The initial Zoom meetings identified some exciting new areas of collaboration. To begin, two IARC representatives, Mary Brauer-Berigan
and Daniel Middleton, will be giving presentations in a special IOHA
2021 Symposium, entitled ‘Exposure characterization for international
programs in global burden of disease estimation and cancer hazard
identification: needs and opportunities for collaboration’.
It was also agreed that IOHA would work more closely with theIARC to understand their needs for data, and provide support in aneffort to forward important information to the IOHA membership in
an effective and meaningful communication stream. To begin thisprocess, an article on research priorities that describes IARC agentsof interest, which appeared in 2019 in The Lancet Oncology can beaccessed at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(19)30246-3/fulltext (freely available on registration).
A version of this article in French, hosted by Centre Leon Berard inLyon, is available at: https://www.cancer-environnement.fr/596Recommandations-du-Groupe-consultatif-sur-les-priorites-desMonographies-du-CIRC.ce.aspx).
In a simplified representation of IARC areas of interest, a poster of146

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the recommended priorities for the IARC Monographs during 2020–2024 is available for viewing or download at: https://monographs.
iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Priorities-poster-streams.
pdf (see Fig. 1). A full report, describing the evidence that led to thepriority determinations, is available at: https://monographs.iarc.
who.int/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IARCMonographs-AGReportPriorities_2020-2024.pdf.
Table 1 shows those priority agents, listed in the full report, thathave already been evaluated, or that are scheduled for evaluation
through June 2022.
For the upcoming meetings of monograph working groups,
all the details (including the calls for experts and data needs), areavailable at: https://monographs.iarc.who.int/iarc-monographsmeetings/#period:%3E. Last, a link to the working group member
nominations process, and forms for agents that should be considered
for future prioritisation, are provided at: https://monographs.iarc.who.
int/information-on-nominations/.

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International OccupationalHygiene AssociationFigure 1. Priorities recommended for IARC Monographs evaluation in 2020–2024

Table 1. Agents that have been evaluated or are scheduled for evaluation
AgentMeeting no. (end date)

ResultAniline and aniline hydrochloride

127 (12 June 2020)

Group 2Ao-Anisidine and o-anisidine hydrochloride

127

Group 2Ao-Nitroanisole

127

Group 2ACupferron

127

Group 2B

Acrolein

128 (13 Nov 2020)

Group 2A

Crotonaldehyde

128Group 2B

Arecoline

128

Group 2B

Gentian violet

129 (5 March 2021)

Group 2B

Leucogentian violet

129

Group 3

Malachite green

129

Group 3

Leucomalachite green

129

Group 2B

C.I. Direct Blue 218

129

Group 2B

1,1,1-Trichloroethane

130 (22 Oct 2021)

Pending

Hydrazobenzene

130

Pending

N-Methyloacrylamide

130

Pending

Diphenylamine

130

Pending

Isophorone

130

Pending

Cobalt metal (without tungsten carbide) and cobalt (II) salts

131 (15 March 2022)

Pending

Weapons-grade tungsten (with nickel and cobalt) alloy

131

Pending

Antimony trioxide

131

Pending

Occupational exposure as a firefighter

132 (14 June 2022)

Pending

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Hygiene Association

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