All employees have the right to safe and healthy working conditions, yet many jobs have inherent occupational exposures, which may require biomonitoring and occupational exposure testing. To protect workers from hazardous exposures, employers in many countries must follow the safety guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), or a similar workplace safety organization. Such guidelines and safety protocols are enforced to protect workers from toxins, hazards and injury. In some regions, employers must also provide occupational toxicology or hazardous chemical exposure testing.
Here are the industries that pose the greatest potential danger for chemical exposure in the workplace or other types of occupational exposure:
Here are the most common ways that chemicals and other dangerous elements come into contact with workers, leading to potential biological effects:
It is important not to eat, drink or smoke in contaminated areas or to store food in such areas at the workplace, as harmful chemicals and other substances may be swallowed accidentally. This can occur if hands, food or cigarettes have been contaminated.
Injection via a skin puncture is a point of entry for harmful chemicals, viruses and other bio-contaminants. This route is a hazard primarily for healthcare workers who handle needles in hospital or lab settings, or others who handle sharp objects in industrial hole-punching or injection processes. With skin punctures, a hazardous material can enter the bloodstream directly.
Regardless of the way a chemical or other hazardous material enters the body, once it gets in, it can pass into the bloodstream, which distributes it throughout a person’s system. In this way, the toxin has the potential to harm organs—even those that are far away from the initial route or point of entry.
While prevention is the best way to protect workers from potential exposure, early detection and diagnosis through routine exposure testing can identify problems and the need for medical interventions.
Many toxic substances and exposures can be detected in urine, blood, and even hair. For this reason, occupational testing may begin with the collection of a urine, blood or hair sample for lab analysis. The type of sample typically depends upon the type of exposure. In some cases, ultrasound and other diagnostic methods may also be used for more comprehensive testing of work-related exposures that are linked to illnesses (i.e., liver disease).
Based on volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS®), the Mitra device absorbs a small volume of blood (1-3 drops) from a fingertip that has been pricked with a lancet. Once collected, the blood "microsample" is enclosed in the Mitra device’s protective case, which is sealed in a foil specimen bag, placed inside a special envelope, and mailed to the lab for processing and analysis. Employers can coordinate with their designated lab to retrieve employee's test results privately via a secure computer system or other communication channel.
To find a lab with expertise in analyzing remote specimen samples:
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2024-101/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5877048/
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/how_chem.html
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hazardoustoxicsubstances/
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1175560-overview#a4
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/922497
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/814960-overview
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/297248-overview
https://nccc.ucsf.edu/clinical-resources/pep-resources/pep-quick-guide-for-occupational-exposures/