Browsing by Author "Demissie,Belaynesh"

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    Assessment of Occupational Chromium Exposure and Associated Factors Among Tannery Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Comparative Cross- Sectional Study.
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-06) Demissie,Belaynesh; Wakuma,Samson (PhD); Abegaz,Teferi(PhD)
    Background: Chromium is not only released into the environment from natural sources but also from industries. The pollutants generated in the tannery industry contain a high concentration of chromium which directly affects human health. Long-term exposure and high concentrations of chromium can cause respiratory challenges, cancer, skin damage, and birth defects. Despite this fact, there is no study done that shows chromium exposure levels in the tannery in Ethiopia. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the level of chromium in hair samples and associated factors among tannery workers in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted to assess the hair chromium level of the tannery workers compared to the bottled water factory workers from November 2023 – June 2024 in Addis Ababa. A simple random sampling method was used to identify a total of 112 study participants with tannery (n=56) and water (n=56) factory workers. The hair samples' chromium levels were analyzed using a microwave plasma emission spectrometer (MP-AES), and structured questionnaires were used to assess the associated factors of hair chromium exposure levels. SPSS Version 26, independent t-test, chi-square, and linear regression were used for analysis. Results: The findings showed that the average hair chromium level of (11.2±10.0) mg/kg among tannery workers was significantly (p<0.001) higher than the average hair chromium level of (4.6±2.7) mg/kg among water factory workers. The linear regression analysis result also observed that working duration in the year, working hours per day, and working sections were statistically significant (p<0.05) relationships to hair chromium levels among tannery workers. Conclusion: This study concluded that the tannery workers had higher significant hair chromium levels as compared to the water factory workers. Consequently, overall, tannery workers had two times higher mean chromium levels as compared to water factory workers. Hence the exposure of chromium in tannery workers should draw much more attention shortly by conducting more research and developing occupational exposure limit guidelines.