LEV

(LEV), or local exhaust ventilation is an important device to use in factories or any workplace where they are toxic fumes and or saw dust and fine particles in the air. This device acts as a huge vacuum sucking up and filtering the debris to a box outside the building or factory.  However, having the fan on while you are running you equipment is not the only thing you have to do to insure that it works effectively. The worker must make sure that the ventilation hood or pipe is placed around one and a half feet away from the work station, or the width of the tube. If the workers are still not sure have them watch the smoke or debris and see if all of it is being sucked up in the tube. This method also works best if the tube can be laid down on the table and placed at and angle, as having it right about your head will make the debris come into the breathing zone. One common mistake that people make is not using a local exhaust ventilation system when they are welding or working outside. Working outside does decrease your exposure but you still run the risk of inhaling toxic fumes still or other hazardous particles. This is why it is still recommended to use a local exhaust ventilation system while working outside. If you have a tent set up outside this is applies as well. Some consequences of not using a local exhaust ventilation system including lung scaring, asthma, and even cancer. With the local exhaust ventilation system you need to make sure that your suction is high enough that it catches all of the debris otherwise you need to relocate it closer or get a unit that has higher air flow.

particulate matter as a health hazard

Particulate matter is a health hazard that not many people think of on a day-to-day basis. Particulate matter can be found in two places, indoors and outdoors. Many people don’t think about the quality of their air indoors. Many have a tendency to think that inside air always mean clean but that’s not the case. For instance in your home if you don’t use an exhaust fan while cooking your food you can increase your exposure to suspended particles which can lead to pneumonia, emphysema, and other lung diseases. Another danger of particle indoors as well as outdoors is carbon monoxide poisoning. You may see this in the news when it starts to get cold outside. People run generators inside their house not knowing that incomplete combustion of the fuel used creates carbon monoxide as a by product. This intern deprives the people in the area of oxygen and they asphyxiate and die. Particle size matters when it comes to your health the bigger particles in the air can be coughed up or come out in your mucus. The particles that you have to worry about are the smaller particles. These can be so tiny that they are fractions smaller then a strand of hair. These get into the deeper part of your lungs and become trapped in your alveoli. This can cause scaring with prolonged exposure due to your body trying to break down the particle trapped in your lung. This leads to decreased lung capacity and can lead to diseases such as pneumonia. This is a lesser-known work hazard that people seem to not pay attention to and brush it off. This is mainly because these workers will not see the effects immediately after inhalation but rather years after the incident. So next time you go into a workplace or in your own home think of these things and see if they might be affecting you negatively.

what is the wheatstone bridge and how is it used in air sampling

The Wheatstone Bridge is a very interesting part of Gas sensors that occupational hygienists use in their field work. Industrial hygienists use these gas meters to find if there are any contaminants in the workplace. Some weigh a few pounds while others only weigh a few ounces. This may not seem like a big deal but it matters when you have to put them on worker and expect them to wear it for their entire shift. What you find more often time then not is these workers will lake them off and put them down someplace else. This gives the occupational hygienists wrong readings and therefore wrong data collected. Or they may still have the gas sensor on them but they will have tucked the hose into their pocket because they don’t like having the hose taped on their body. Because of this it is important that the occupational health hygienist checks up on the workers around an hour after placing it on them. If they don’t do thins they could waste the entire day. Anyway back to the bridge. Basically the circuit is what the device uses to detect the toxic compounds or element in the air. There is a part of the bridge that has a heating compound that reacts with the combustible gases that are being sucked into the contraption. This heats up the heating compound and causes a specific temperature that is correlated with a number or reading. This then tells you how much combustible gas is in that area. There are other sensors that essentially do the same things as the Wheatstone bridge. There are two big ones, one of which is named metal oxide semiconductor, and the second is thermal conductivity. The names are pretty self-explanatory. The metal oxide detects metals that have oxidized in the air while the thermal conductivity, which measures how well the air pumped in conducts heat.

How Particle size relates to resiratory system

A major component of occupational health and safety that if often overlooked is air pollution, primarily air particles that you unknowingly inhale in. the lungs are a complex organ with approximately 1500 miles of airwaves and 300 to 500 alveoli. These alveoli are located at the ends of the respiratory tree. These alveoli are responsible for gas exchanges in the body and are essential to oxygenate the blood. When there is air pollution these particles can become trapped in these sacks causing them to form scar tissue and causing it to become ever harder to preform their function. The smaller the particle is the harder it is to get rid of. This is because the smaller particles can travel farther unto the lung. The bigger particles can be coughed or sneezed out of your lungs. However, these natural ways to dispel foreign objects from your body don’t work for smaller particulates. Not only do you have to worry about inhaling solid matter but also water particles that are suspended in the air. This can cause diseases such as pneumonia, which can cause death. The people that are most at risk are mainly ones the work in conditions that produce a lot of dust, such as minors, or factories that produce a lot of sawdust just to name a few scenarios where people would be exposed to high levels of pollution. This being said workers are not the only ones that are at risk. Children are at risk as well as the elderly population. Side effects from inhaling particles can range widely. Some of them include life expectancy to be shortened by up to three years. Other side effects include lung cancer and low birth weights in women who are pregnant. One  side effect that is lesser known is the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

Botox

 

Botox comes from Clostridium Botulinum. This is widely accepted as the most poisonous substance in the world. Even though it is so lethal you can still find it in everyday foods such as honey. Because the babies are so little their bodies cannot fight the trace amounts of spores and can die from botulism, otherwise known as floppy baby syndrome. This is why people are told not to feed their babies honey until the age of 2. However, as you grow this dangerous substance can and is used cosmetically. In fact Botox is approved by the FDA and has been for a long time. The dose of Botox is measured in units and one patient should never be given more then 100 units.  .01cc of Botox is equal to 4 units to put that in prospective medically. Doses of Botox differ depending on the area of injection and also sex of the individual. This is because men tend to have larger muscles, thus needing more injection units or cc. Botox works by paralyzing the muscles that lie under the skin to prevent them from contracting and showing the wrinkles. The botulinum toxin works at a chemical level by inhibiting the release acetylcholine at the synaptic terminal. So without the presence of acetylcholine the muscle cannot make contractions. Most people use Botox around their face especially where the crows feet are located and on the forehead and between the eyebrows. However, it has been know to be administered in the armpits of patients that have chronic perspiration. This is because the botulinum toxin also can block gland functions as well.  Botox lasts on average for 3-4 months although for some the effects can last for up to 6 months. This varies on how often the person will try and flex the particular muscles that were inhibited with the injection of Botox.