P-304 Carex Brazil estimates of workers exposed to of chlorothalonil, silica and benzene

Introduction

CAREX Brazil is a project coordinated by the Coordination-General of Occupational Health Surveillance of the Ministry of Health of Brazil, National Cancer Institute, and Jorge Duprat Figueiredo Foundation for Occupational Safety and Medicine (Fundacentro) of the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The objective of this project was to estimate the number of workers exposed to occupational carcinogens in Brazil benzene, silica, and the pesticide chlorothalonil.

Material and Methods

CAREX Brazil estimated the prevalence of workers exposed to carcinogens using an Occupational Exposure Matrix – MEO. Information on the workforce was obtained from two databases Annual Social Information Report (RAIS) between 2006 and 2020 for formal workers and the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) in 2014 for total workers. The prevalence of exposure was estimated by experts. For data analysis was used an copyright web system, which used PostgreSQL and Access (Microsoft Corporation) tools.

Results

CAREX Brazil estimated that between 2006 and 2020 on average 3,610,902 (5.46%) of Brazilian formal workers were exposed to silica and 541,644 (0.82%) conditionally exposed. For benzene, on average, 2,183,569 (3.29%) of formal workers were exposed and 922,227 (1.39%) were conditionally exposed. Exposure to chlorothalonil among formal industrial and commercial workers was estimated at 43,349 (0.07%). Finally, an average of 5,928,286 (6.00%) of total agricultural workers were considered exposed to chlorothalonil in 2014.

Conclusions

A substantial proportion of Brazilian workers are exposed to known and suspected carcinogens at work. These data will be used for the purpose of worker health surveillance, supporting public policies.