Estimation of respiratory heat flows in prediction of heat strain among Taiwanese steel workers

• Published in: International journal of biometeorology 2017-01, Vol.61 (1), p.115-125
• Main Authors: Chen, Wang-Yi, Juang, Yow-Jer, Hsieh, Jung-Yu, Tsai, Perng-Jy, Chen, Chen-Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Animal Physiology; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Earth and Environmental Science; Energy consumption; Environment; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Estimating techniques; Evaporation; Exercise Test; Heat; Heat flow; Heat Stress Disorders - physiopathology; Hot Temperature - adverse effects; Humans; International standards; Iron; Male; Meteorology; Models, Biological; Occupational Diseases - physiopathology; Occupational Exposure; Original Paper; Oxygen Consumption; Physiological responses; Physiology; Plant Physiology; Respiration; Respiratory system; Steel; Steel industry; Sweating; Taiwan; Workers; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0020-7128; 1432-1254
• DOI: 10.1007/s00484-016-1195-y

International Organization for Standardization 7933 standard provides evaluation of required sweat rate (RSR) and predicted heat strain (PHS). This study examined and validated the approximations in these models estimating respiratory heat flows (RHFs) via convection ( C res ) and evaporation ( E res ) for application to Taiwanese foundry workers. The influence of change in RHF approximation to the validity of heat strain prediction in these models was also evaluated. The metabolic energy consumption and physiological quantities of these workers performing at different workloads under elevated wet-bulb globe temperature (30.3 ± 2.5 °C) were measured on-site and used in the calculation of RHFs and indices of heat strain. As the results show, the RSR model overestimated the C res for Taiwanese workers by approximately 3 % and underestimated the E res by 8 %. The C res approximation in the PHS model closely predicted the convective RHF, while the E res approximation over-predicted by 11 %. Linear regressions provided better fit in C res approximation ( R 2  = 0.96) than in E res approximation ( R 2  ≤ 0.85) in both models. The predicted C res deviated increasingly from the observed value when the WBGT reached 35 °C. The deviations of RHFs observed for the workers from those predicted using the RSR or PHS models did not significantly alter the heat loss via the skin, as the RHFs were in general of a level less than 5 % of the metabolic heat consumption. Validation of these approximations considering thermo-physiological responses of local workers is necessary for application in scenarios of significant heat exposure.