The evaluation of exposure of printing trade employees to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Epidemiological studies of the lung cancer experience of workers in the printing industry have been inconclusive. Where there have been positive findings, the effect has generally been attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure, although no exposure measurements were made. This study was undertaken to determine the exposures of printing press operators to PAH and total particulate (TP), and to evaluate the factors contributing to exposure. Personal time-weighted average exposures of press room workers were determined on two consecutive days at nine sites, including two newspaper operations. The average PAH exposure was 16.5 micrograms m-3 (including naphthalene). The average TP exposure was 0.63 mg m-3. Examination of the data revealed that there were significant differences between sites for exposure both to TP and to PAH. Newspaper plants had significantly lower exposures than commercial printing operations. There were no significant differences in exposure between the various job classifications of workers in the press rooms. Factors identified as contributing to exposure to TP were: the effectiveness of the ventilation systems, the method of feeding the press, the type of paper and the print impression area.