Background: Italian national legislation guarantees safety and health for workers exposed to artificial optical radiations (AOR) by Legislative Decree 81/2008.
Objectives and methods: Effects and damages to health resulting from AOR exposure were analyzed from literature data.
Results: Ultraviolet radiations (UV), particularly those in the wavelength range between 220 and 310 nm, causes chronic conjunctivitis and kerato-conjunctivitis. Skin cancer caused by UV exposure included basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. As regards Infrared Radiations (portion of the spectrum between 780 nm and 1 mm), the biological effect is essentially of thermal nature. Exposure to blue light (portion ofthe spectrum of visible light radiation in a wavelength range between 380 and 550 nm) causes exclusively retinal damage and is considered to be responsible for the development of situations of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Even if experimental data are available, at the present time there is still no epidemiological evidence of retinal damage caused by blue light.
Conclusions: The forensic criteria for investigating the causality link between occupational exposure to AOR and damage, and the methodology necessary for the assessment process, are reported. Two lists of occupational diseases which were included in the Italian Ministerial Decrees, issued respectively on April 2008 and 11 December 2009, are also considered. Lastly, on the basis of the current existing guidelines and scientific evidence, the authors propose occupational health surveillance protocols for workers exposed to AOR risk.