What should I bring?
Hardened plastics can cause allergies and other hypersensitivity and therefore require regular medical examinations.
According to AFS 2019:03, the employer is obliged to map which hardened plastic components are present at the workplace and notify the examination doctor, this determines the type of examination to be carried out.
Hardened plastics are a collective name for special plastics (polymers) that are designed to withstand heat, in English they are called thermoset. Examples of hardened plastics are epoxy plastics, phenoplastics, acrylate plastics, ester plastics, aminoplasts and polyurethane/urethane plastics. All of these have been developed with their unique properties suitable for a specific task, ranging from paints and glue to fire sealing as well as insulation of pipes or joint foam.
This wide range of applications allows you to come across hardening plastics in many different professions, such as foundry workers, nail technologists, lash stylists, electronics fitters, car plate manufacturers and car paintworkers, dentists and placetped technicians, among others.
From a medical perspective, the biggest problem is that hardened plastics in different ways tease the immune system. Some are only dangerous during the manufacturing process or before they have hardened, others can be released during heating and cause problems when inhaled (e.g. polyurethane containing isocyanates).
Wherever the immune system meets the hardened plastic, problems can occur, asthma in the trachea, eczema on the skin or irritation of mucous membranes such as eyes. These symptoms can persist even if you are no longer exposed to the plastic, and they can make you sensitive to completely different substances (e.g. tobacco smoke, perfume, cold air).