Phosphorus poisoning as an occupational and environmental disease in wartime conditions through the recommendations of the International Labor Organization – 2022

Abstract

Abstract. The issue of diagnosis, registration and monitoring of diseases related to phosphorus poisoning is extremely important, taking into account Russia’s use of phosphorous ammunition on the territory of Ukraine. The system of recognition and monitoring of occupational and environmentally determined diseases needs to be adapted to modern requirements of European legislation. Aim. Analysis of the system for determining occupational phosphorus poisoning in Ukraine and its comparison with modern requirements of The International Labor Organization. Materials and Methods. The analytical review of scientific publications is carried out using abstract databases of scientific libraries PubMed, Medline and text databases of scientific publishers Pub Med, Central, BMJ group and other VIP databases. The analysis of reporting materials of The State Labor Service of Ukraine (SLSU), methodological approaches of The International Labor Organization (ILO) is carried out. Methods of system, comparative, and content analysis are used. Results. The results obtained in the study indicate an extremely low prevalence of toxic lesions of occupational and environmentally determined genesis in Ukraine: chemical intoxication accounts for less than 0.2% in the structure of occupational diseases, and phosphorus poisoning has not been registered in the last 20 years. Significant discrepancies were found in the system of recognition of occupational phosphorus poisoning in Ukraine in comparison with the methodological recommendations of The International Labor Organization-2022. In contrast to the instructions for the application of the list of occupational diseases (LOD) of The International Labor Organization-2022, similar documents in Ukraine do not provide a characteristic of phosphorus properties, its toxicological profile, the minimum duration of exposure that causes occupational disease, the duration of the latent period, which complicates the recognition of occupational diseases, objectification of the diagnosis, and also leads to a distortion of statistical indicators regarding occupational morbidity. Conclusions. The recognition system of occupational phosphorus poisoning in Ukraine needs to be adapted to the European recommendations and requirements recommended by the ILO. First of all, this concerns the list of occupational diseases and instructions for its use, bringing them to the norms of international legislation will allow unifying the diagnostic system, objectifying it and establishing a system for registering occupational diseases at the proper level. The problem is particularly relevant given the high risk of phosphorus intoxication of the population, military and certain professional groups on the territory of military operations in Ukraine. Keywords: phosphorus, occupational poisoning, military operations, list of occupational diseases.