Controlling painters exposure to volatile organic solvents in the automotive sector of southern Colombia

Abstract

Background:Painters in the automotive sector are routinely exposed to volatile organic solvents, and thelevels vary depending on the occupational health and safety controls enforced at the companies. Thisstudy investigates the levels of exposure to organic vapors and the existence of controls in the formaleconomy sector in southern Colombia.Methods:This is an exploratory study of an observational and descriptive character. An analysis of sol-vents is conducted via the personal sampling of painters and the analysis of samples using the NationalInstitute for Occupational Safety and Health 1501 method. The amount of solvents analyzed varied ac-cording to the budget allocated by the companies. The person in charge of the occupational safety andhealth management system was interviewed to learn about the exposure controls implemented at thecompanies.Results:A medium exposure risk for toluene was found in one company. Another presented medium riskfor carbon tetrachloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, and n-butanol. The others showed low risk of exposureand that the controls implemented were not sufficient or efficient.Conclusion:These results shed light on the working conditions of these tradespeople. The permissiblelimits established by Colombian regulations for the evaluated chemical contaminants were not exceeded.However, there were contaminants that exceeded the limits of action. The analysis offindings made itpossible to propose improvements in occupational safety and health management systems to allow theoptimization of working conditions for painters, prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, andreduce costs to the country’s health system