Reviews of occupational diseases - project notice - the Working Environment Research Fund 2012
Deadline for application: September 17th at 12.00 am.
Theme: Occupational exposure to metal welding fume particles and risk for ischemic heart disease (IHD)
Against the background of the ongoing discussions of occupational diseases, the National Board of Industrial Injuries and the Occupational Diseases Committee have found that there is a great need for a detailed review, in the form of a scientific reference document, of the causality between exposure to welding fume particles and the development of ischemic heart disease.
Project framework
Against the background of a primarily epidemiologically based examination of the most significant Danish and international research results in the field, the scientific reference document will elucidate in detail, summarise and assess knowledge of the causality between exposure to welding fume particles in industry, and in working life in general, and the risk of ischemic heart disease. The document will include a description of the statistical correlation, the nature and duration of exposure to welding fumes, competitive factors and, finally, an evidence assessment.
For possibly work-related diseases caused by the exposure to welding fume particles, the following information is required:
About the disease:
- Diagnostic delimitation and specification of the disease in exposed groups
- Information on how the diagnosis was made
- An assessment of the validity of the survey results
- Information on the severity of the disease or the symptoms
About the exposure:
- The general nature of the exposures (the types of work in question)
- The more concrete nature and severity/scope of the exposures, described in terms of quality and quantity
- The total duration of the exposures
- The nature, severity/scope and duration of the exposures, compared with an assessment of the size of the risk
- The nature, severity/scope and duration of the exposures, compared with possible threshold values (lower limit values) for effect
About the causality:
- A summarising description and assessment of the dose-response and dose-effect correlations
- Description and assessment of the time of the onset of the disease in relation to the exposure
- An explicit assessment of the disease prognosis and the impact of the exposure on the prognosis
About competitive and pre-existing diseases/conditions:
- Description of the significance of competitive/pre-existing diseases for the disease development
- Description of non-occupational exposures (exposures in leisure time or non-occupational exposures, e.g. tobacco smoking, eating and exercise habits, mental stresses, etc.)
- Description of the significance of other, non-occupational factors (e.g. heredity, gender, age, other diseases)
- If possible a quantitative assessment of the role played by occupational exposures in the development of the disease in relation to non-occupational diseases/factors, cf. the above
Summary:
- Description and assessment of the reliability of the exposure and disease documentation in the individual article
- A summarised and graduated assessment of the evidence (see also special guidelines for reviews of occupational diseases)
- The project report will include a summary directed at lay persons
If the literature is inadequate for the elucidation of the required causalities, this should be stated and the specific grounds should be given.
If, in this connection, it is found that additional research should be initiated, it would be desirable for a substantiated and specific statement of relevant additional-research goals to be included in the overall project conclusion.