Magnesium hydroxide

Health surveillance data

Administrative data

Endpoint:

health surveillance data

Type of information:

other: Consortium questionnaire

Adequacy of study:

supporting study

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

other: other, consortium questionnaires

Title:

Summary of received human health questionnaires from magnesium hydroxide manufacturing sites

Year:

2010

Materials and methods

Study type:

self-reporting of symptoms

Endpoint addressed:

other: Human health

Principles of method if other than guideline:

Human health questionnaire to Consortium members.

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Magnesium hydroxide

EC Number:

215-170-3

EC Name:

Magnesium hydroxide

Cas Number:

1309-42-8

Molecular formula:

H2MgO2

IUPAC Name:

magnesium dihydroxide

Method

Type of population:

occupational

Ethical approval:

not specified

Details on study design:

A human health questionnaire was distributed among eight companies where, overall, 457 workers are exposed to magnesium hydroxide, 182 of those are exposed continuously and 227 are exposed intermittently. These workers were questioned on any adverse effects they may have experienced due to the exposure; these included occupational asthma, allergy or occupational asthma confirmed by medical testing or any other cases of health problems which may have been reported.

Results and discussion

Results:

No exposure related health problems including allergy or occupational asthma, were reported. There were also no adverse effects reported from the workers during each operation, even in cases where PPE was not used for some of the procedures in some companies.

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

No adverse health effects reported.

Executive summary:

A human health questionnaire was distributed among eight companies where, overall, 457 workers are exposed to magnesium hydroxide, 182 of those are exposed continuously and 227 are exposed intermittently. These workers were questioned on any adverse effects they may have experienced due to the exposure; these included occupational asthma, allergy or occupational asthma confirmed by medical testing or any other cases of health problems which may have been reported. Among all the workers surveyed, there were no reported cases, from any of the 457 workers in all 8 companies, of health problems or adverse effects experienced through exposure.

During each operation, different forms of personal protective equipment were used in order to protect the worker from any adverse effects related to magnesium hydroxide exposure, these included gloves, goggles, respirator and protective suits. For any operation which involved pouring, lab operations or disposal, PPE was used to protect the workers. For a number of different operations, in different companies, including filling/loading/ emptying/ transferring and weighing and mixing, no PPE is used by workers when carrying out these procedures and no adverse effects were reported after exposure to the Magnesium hydroxide during processing.

In addition, the engineering procedures in each company were examined, for example if they had local and general ventilation and if the workers were separated from the exposure source, and the majority of companies had these engineering procedures in place where applicable to the operation.

In conclusion, according to the human health questionnaires distributed through 8 different companies where 457 total workers are exposed to Magnesium hydroxide on a regular basis, no exposure related health problems including allergy or occupational asthma, were reported. There were also no adverse effects reported from the workers during each operation, even in cases where PPE was not used for some of the procedures in some companies.