30
1 Chemicals in the Food and Beverage Industry: An Introduction
come into contact with incompatible products (e.g., organic solvent + nitric acid)
and cause hazardous reactions.
Omnipresent in the workplace, chemicals sometimes go unnoticed. However,
many chemicals can have effects on humans and their environment. Identifying dangerous chemical products, mixtures, or processes and their effects is a first step before
implementing appropriate prevention measures.
From now on, poorly identified and, above all, poorly managed chemical risks can
prove to be much more important than any other industrial risk both at a scale level
and at a gravity level. Indeed, it is often the exposure to small doses repeated over
time (chronic exposure) which proves to be the most disastrous for human health.
Not to mention the so-called persistent or bioaccumulable products that can end up
miles away from the source of contamination and can affect anyone at any time, the
risk becomes difficult to identify.
The main driver for supporting people to work longer is now to improve the
quality of work. Improving employment practices for older workers will improve
the workplace for all.
One specific acid of normal use in the food industry is briefly discussed in Chap. 2:
citric acid, as food additive, as a simple example of difficulties shown by a single
chemical with more than one declared application and feature on the one side and
more than one specific danger for food operators. It has to be considered that many
acids such as lactic acid (Ameen and Caruso 2017) may be used with citric acid or
replace it when speaking of similar functions, but with very different dangers.
References
AISS (2016) Valeurs limites d’exposition pour la prévention des agents chimiques. Association internationale de la sécurité sociale (AISS), Institut National de Recherche et de Securitè
(INRS), Paris. Available http://www.inrs.fr/dms/inrs/CataloguePapier/ED/TI-ED-6254/ed6254.
pdf. Accessed 10 Jan 2020
Ameen SM, Caruso G (2017) Lactic acid in the food industry. Springer International Publishing,
Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58146-0
ATA (2016) Understanding the facts. Causes. American Tinnitus Association (ATA), Washington,
DC. Available https://www.ata.org/understanding-facts/causes. Accessed 08 Jan 2020
Bédard S, Berger M, Gobeil M, Goulet S, Paillé M, Sicotte D, Thibeault T (2009) Techniques et
équipements de travail en hygiene et salubrité. La Direction des communications du ministère de
la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, Montréal. Available https://publications.msss.gouv.
qc.ca/msss/fichiers/2009/09-209-01.pdf. Accessed 08 Jan 2020
Bergman Å, Heindel JJ, Jobling S, Kidd K, Zoeller RT (eds) (2013) State of the science of
endocrine disrupting chemicals—2012. World Health Organization (WHO), Genéve, and the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi. Available https://www.who.int/ceh/
risks/cehemerging2/en/. Accessed 09 Jan 2020
Binetti R, Costamagna FM, Marcello I (2008) Exponential growth of new chemicals and evolution
of information relevant to risk control. Annali Istituto Superiore di Sanità 44, 1:13–15. Available http://old.iss.it/binary/publ/cont/ANN_08_04%20Binetti.1209032191.pdf. Accessed 08 Jan
2020
1 Chemicals in the Food and Beverage Industry: An Introduction
come into contact with incompatible products (e.g., organic solvent + nitric acid)
and cause hazardous reactions.
Omnipresent in the workplace, chemicals sometimes go unnoticed. However,
many chemicals can have effects on humans and their environment. Identifying dangerous chemical products, mixtures, or processes and their effects is a first step before
implementing appropriate prevention measures.
From now on, poorly identified and, above all, poorly managed chemical risks can
prove to be much more important than any other industrial risk both at a scale level
and at a gravity level. Indeed, it is often the exposure to small doses repeated over
time (chronic exposure) which proves to be the most disastrous for human health.
Not to mention the so-called persistent or bioaccumulable products that can end up
miles away from the source of contamination and can affect anyone at any time, the
risk becomes difficult to identify.
The main driver for supporting people to work longer is now to improve the
quality of work. Improving employment practices for older workers will improve
the workplace for all.
One specific acid of normal use in the food industry is briefly discussed in Chap. 2:
citric acid, as food additive, as a simple example of difficulties shown by a single
chemical with more than one declared application and feature on the one side and
more than one specific danger for food operators. It has to be considered that many
acids such as lactic acid (Ameen and Caruso 2017) may be used with citric acid or
replace it when speaking of similar functions, but with very different dangers.
References
AISS (2016) Valeurs limites d’exposition pour la prévention des agents chimiques. Association internationale de la sécurité sociale (AISS), Institut National de Recherche et de Securitè
(INRS), Paris. Available http://www.inrs.fr/dms/inrs/CataloguePapier/ED/TI-ED-6254/ed6254.
pdf. Accessed 10 Jan 2020
Ameen SM, Caruso G (2017) Lactic acid in the food industry. Springer International Publishing,
Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58146-0
ATA (2016) Understanding the facts. Causes. American Tinnitus Association (ATA), Washington,
DC. Available https://www.ata.org/understanding-facts/causes. Accessed 08 Jan 2020
Bédard S, Berger M, Gobeil M, Goulet S, Paillé M, Sicotte D, Thibeault T (2009) Techniques et
équipements de travail en hygiene et salubrité. La Direction des communications du ministère de
la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, Montréal. Available https://publications.msss.gouv.
qc.ca/msss/fichiers/2009/09-209-01.pdf. Accessed 08 Jan 2020
Bergman Å, Heindel JJ, Jobling S, Kidd K, Zoeller RT (eds) (2013) State of the science of
endocrine disrupting chemicals—2012. World Health Organization (WHO), Genéve, and the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi. Available https://www.who.int/ceh/
risks/cehemerging2/en/. Accessed 09 Jan 2020
Binetti R, Costamagna FM, Marcello I (2008) Exponential growth of new chemicals and evolution
of information relevant to risk control. Annali Istituto Superiore di Sanità 44, 1:13–15. Available http://old.iss.it/binary/publ/cont/ANN_08_04%20Binetti.1209032191.pdf. Accessed 08 Jan
2020