Abstract
The aim is to investigate and describe the health conditions of workers who are employed in precarious work settings in Mexico. Specifically, the study aims to provide insight on the health status of workers who are vulnerable due to the informal nature of their employment. Through the evaluation of three different scenarios of precarious employment (n = 110), including workers in mercury miner (workers A), brick-kilns (workers B), and quarries workers (workers C). The study analyzes clinical parameters to determine the workers' renal health condition and assesses their pulmonary function using spirometry. Multivariate analyses and Spearman correlation are performed to determine the contribution of length of service to workers' health parameters. Workers B have the highest incidence of clinical health alterations, with the highest BMI and prediabetes/diabetes index, albumin creatinine ratio, and eGFR. Moreover, pulmonary function parameters show a decrease in %FEV1/FVC in workers B and C compared to workers A, while workers A demonstrate a more significant decrease in %FEV1. Additionally, a negative correlation is observed between the length of service in precarious work settings and lung parameters (r = –0.538, p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study highlights the need to address the issue of precarious employment in Mexico by improving working conditions, access to healthcare and promoting social protection for workers, which can reduce the number of work-related illnesses and deaths and ensure the safety and health of workers.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all the workers who participated in the study for their confidence in carrying out this work. We also thank the Laboratory of Medical Specialties of the faculty of medicine of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi for the support provided for the realization of the clinical analysis.
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Conceptualization: Francisco Javier Pérez-Vázquez and Fernando Díaz-Barriga; Methodology: Kelvin Saldaña-Villanueva, Karen Beatriz Méndez-Rodríguez, Blanca Nohemi Zamora-Mendoza and Alejandro Gómez-Gómez; Formal analysis and investigation: Kelvin Saldaña-Villanueva, Karen Beatriz Méndez-Rodríguez and Blanca Nohemi Zamora-Mendoza; Writing–original draft preparation: Kelvin Saldaña-Villanueva and Karen Beatriz Méndez-Rodríguez; Writing–review and editing: Francisco Javier Pérez-Vázquez; Funding acquisition: Fernando Díaz-Barriga; Resources: Francisco Javier Pérez-Vázquez; Supervision: Francisco Javier Pérez-Vázquez
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Saldaña-Villanueva, K., Méndez-Rodríguez, K.B., Zamora-Mendoza, B.N. et al. Health effects of informal precarious workers in occupational environments with high exposure to pollutants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 76818–76828 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27769-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27769-6