Common occupational chemical hazards

The ILO’s 2021 report, Exposure to hazardous chemicals at work and resulting health impacts: A global review, identified the top ten workplace chemical exposures which should be considered a priority:   

Asbestos

• Causes over 200,000 deaths per year from mesothelioma, cancers and asbestosis.
• Despite being phased out in more than 50 countries, workers continue to be exposed in different industries, including mining, construction and textiles.

Silica

• Silica exposure is most extensive in occupations involving manual labour, for example in construction, sandblasting and mining operations.
• Over 65,000 deaths occur annually from occupational silica exposure, due to silicosis and cancer.

Heavy metals and e-waste

• Workers can be exposed to different heavy metals in the workplace, including arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury and nickel.
• Workers in numerous industries are at risk of serious health impacts from these hazardous chemicals.

Solvents

• High solvent exposure occupations include painters, lacquerers, printers, dry cleaners, footwear manufacturers, occupations in graphics and plastic product works.
• Health impacts depend on solvent type, but they have linked to cancer, kidney and liver damage and reproductive dysfunction.

Dyes

• Dyes are commonly used in the textile, pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries.
• Azo dyes degrade to release carcinogenic substances.

Manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs)

• The recent increase of MNM production in a wide variety of industries represents a novel exposure risk for workers.
• Limited data exists on the health impacts of MNMs.

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFAS)

• Workers in chemical industries, firefighters and ski-wax technicians are particularly at risk of hazardous PFAS exposures.
• They have been linked to a variety of cancers, as well as immune, endocrine and reproductive dysfunction.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals

• Substances from many different chemical groups that can act at very low doses to impact the functioning of the endocrine system.
• EDCs have been implicated in multiple reproductive disorders in men and women, as well as cancers, neurodevelopmental disorders and obesity.

Pesticides

• Approximately 1.8 billion people are engaged in agricultural activities worldwide and most use pesticides.
• Pesticides are considered a major public health concern, with serious health impacts including pesticide poisonings, cancers and neurotoxic effects.

Workplace air pollution

• Pollution of air in the workplace, either indoors in the work premises or during work outdoors, can cause a range of health impacts.