Exploratory study of symptoms of workers of Nanotechnology Companies in Tehran in 2018

Nowadays, using nanomaterials is provided in various fields of science and technology due to their unique size and characteristics. On the other hand, these unique properties have created many concerns about the potential effects of nanomaterials on human and the environment. Occupational exposure is the most important way of human exposure with nanomaterials. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the symptoms of the workers of the nanotechnology companies in Tehran.

At first, a non-specific symptom questionnaire was designed and validated by a group of specialists. Then, nanotechnology companies were identified and questionnaires were provided to the employees of these companies. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS.22 software.

The results showed that the designed questionnaire had a good validity and reliability for the study. The average age of employees was less than 34 years and the average working experience was less than 7 years, indicating Newness of nanotechnology in the country. The results showed that the frequency of skin symptoms (such as roughness, itching and redness), respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, sneezing and sore throat) and ocular symptoms (such as burning, itching and redness) are relatively high among the workers of the nanotechnology companies.

Because the results indicated that the frequency of some of the symptoms were high among the workers of the companies under investigation, it is necessary to use control measures to reduce the exposure and contact of the workers with nanomaterial.