7578409724

/iand j tcork enrinm Health 6 (1960) 58—65

heactions to hand cooling in workers c cupationally exposed to cold

!

b tan Enander, MA. Bjórn Skóldstróm. MSc. and lngvar Holmćr, PhD ^{1 2}

ENANDER A. SKOLDSTROM B, HOLMŁR I. Reactions to hand cooling in workers occupationally exposed to cold. Scand j work enoiron Health 6 (1980) 58—6S. Ten men i    occupationally cxposed to cold and len Office workers participated in the study. Rcac-

'    tions to immcrsion ot the hands in cold water (+ 10°C) for 2 min were sludied during

the followłng 30 min at two different amblent lemperatures, 10 and 20°C Hand skin temperaturo was recorded In Ihermograms, and the subjects mted cold scnsation and paln. Considerable interindividual diffcrcnces In hand skin temperaturę reaction \    were found in both groups. On the average the occupationally exposed workers had

a somewhat higher hand skin temperaturę than the Office workers during the recovery period In the 10°C ambient temperaturę, although the difference dld not reach signi-ficance. The Office workers rated significantly greater cold sensation as a result of the cold immersion, especially during an ambient temperaturo of 10°C, and the frequency of pain ratings was higher for this group. The results suggest that cooling among the occupationally exposcd workers at work was not scvere enough to produce physio-logical adaptations. although some psychological adaptation was indicaled.

Key terms: adaptive responses. hand cooling. paln, skin temperaturę, therznal sensation.

jir^Tsure of the hands to cool or cold ara-t conditions while the rest of the body s bjected to a comfortable microclimate •ccurs in some occupational activities (2, " 6. 9, 11, 12, 14). Many kinds of out-lo activities in the winter, as well as v« in cold Stores, may produce long-asting, repeated exposures with hand skin ei eratures below 20°C and finger skin ei eratures below 15°C (3, 14).

Adaptive responses to local cooling of hr ’ ands have been reported in many in-c jations [for reviews see Carlson et al l) —id HelLstrom (6)). Adaptation is the tost obvious in populations permanently x ;ed to cold (Eskimos, Lapps, Arctic n« ns, etc), eg, they have a quicker onset and a higher freguency of cold-induced yasodilatation (2, 9). Although similar find-ings have been obtained from fishermen (9), fish filleters (11) and ice-chamber workers (17), occupational exposure to cold in generał Is less severe and involves smallcr adaptive responses (3, 6, 16, 17). Hand blood flow and cold-induced yasodilatation did not differ significantly in groups exposed to cold occupationally in compar-ison with the referents sludied by Hell-strom (6). In the same study (6) how-ever the cold-exposed group maintained a higher hand skin temperaturo and per-ceived pain at lower hand skin tempera-tures in comparison with nonexposcd in-dividuals.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which men occupationally exposed for many years to a moderately cold climate (+5 to 4- 10°C) display physiological or psychological adaptations similar to those found in morę severe cold exposure in response to local cooling.

155-3140/80/010058-8

1

r—artment of Occupational Health, National E rd of Occupational Safcty and Health, S ta, Sweden.

eprint requests to: Dr Ingvar Holmćr, Na-

2

Board of Occupational Safety and ei k S-171 84 Solna, Sweden.