Critical body temperature profile as indicator of heat stress vulnerability

Abstract

Extreme climatic heat is a major health concern among workers in different occupational pursuits. People in the regions of western India confront frequent heat emergencies, with great risk of mortality and morbidity. Taking account of informal occupational groups (foundry and sheet metal, FSM, N=587; ceramic and pottery, CP, N=426; stone quarry, SQ, N=934) in different seasons, the study examined the body temperature profiling as indicator of vulnerability to environmental warmth. About 3/4th of 1947 workers had habitual exposure at 30.1-35.5°C WBGT and ~10% of them were exposed to 38.2-41.6°C WBGT. The responses of FSM, CP and SQ workers indicated prevailing high heat load during summer and post-monsoon months. Local skin temperatures (T(sk)) varied significantly in different seasons, with consistently high level in summer, followed by post-monsoon and winter months. The mean difference of T(cr) and T(sk) was ~5.2°C up to 26.7°C WBGT, and ~2.5°C beyond 30°C WBGT. Nearly 90% of the workers had T(cr) within 38°C, suggesting their self-adjustment strategy in pacing work and regulating T(cr). In extreme heat, the limit of peripheral adjustability (35-36°C T(sk)) and the narrowing down of the difference between T(cr) and T(sk) might indicate the limit of one's ability to withstand heat exposure.