Chronic occupational diseases with short development periods in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

Along with the prevalence and severity of the course, the most important characteristic of a chronic occupational disease is the period of its formation, which, as a rule, exceeds 10 years. The aim of the study was to analyze the causes, structure and prevalence of occupational diseases that developed during shortened (no more than 10 years) periods of exposure to production hazards. We carried out an analysis of the data from the register of extracts from occupational disease records (Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated May 28, 2001 No. 176) for 2007-2021 in the Russian Arctic. In 2007-2021, 10,286 chronic occupational diseases were first identified in the Russian Arctic. In 45 (0.44 %) cases, the length of service was 1-5 years, in 180 (1.75 %) cases - 6-10 years, and in 10061 (97.81 %) cases - more than 10 years. The following characteristic features have been established for diseases with a shortened period of formation (1-10 years): larger proportions of women and health workers among the sick people; a larger proportion of diseases that occurred under permissible and harmful class 3.1 working conditions; biological and chemical factors are of greater importance in the structure of their production hazards; occupational contact with an infectious agent and imperfection of sanitary installations are of greater importance among the circumstances of their development; infectious diseases (respiratory tuberculosis), diseases of the respiratory system and skin occupy a larger share in the structure of occupational pathology. Some circumstances of the occurrence and registration of health disorders arising from short-term exposure to production hazards remain not entirely clear. To prevent possible cases of unsubstantiated recognition of these diseases as occupational ones, it is advisable to create an expert system for auditing data entered into the reporting documentation of Rospotrebnadzor.