A statistical analysis with a multivariate linear regression model was adopted. From the statistical analysis of data a direct correlation between pack-years and BALF macrophages was found. Inversely correlation between pack-years and BALF lymphocytes was detected. There was not relationship among BALF cellular pattern, PFT values, specific diagnosis, BALF AB count or BALF asbestos fibre concentration. BALF cellular pattern does not seem to be related to asbestos exposure biomarkers like AB and asbestos fibre concentration in BALF. Instead, smoke habit can induce an increase in BALF macrophages and a decrease of BALF lymphocytes count. BALF cellular pattern does not seem to be related to asbestos exposure biomarkers like AB and asbestos fibre concentration in BALF. Instead, smoke habit can induce an increase in BALF macrophages and a decrease of BALF lymphocytes count. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus, primarily transmitted through droplets, able to persist on different surfaces and in the air for several hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Care Workers should be considered a high risk profession. Beside social distancing rules and the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment, sanitization measures and ventilation system disinfection are essential to reduce viral transmission. This is the first Italian study aiming to assess the magnitude of environmental contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit. In addition to ordinary cleaning procedures, surface and air samplings have been performed before and after the application of two different sanitization devices. Samples have been analyzed with Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction in order to find viral RNA. All samples obtained from surfaces and air before and after extra-ordinary sanitization procedures turned out negative for viral detection. These findings highlight the efficiency of ordinary cleaning procedures in guaranteeing a safer workplace. The adoption of additional sanitization protocols should be considered in order to further reduce environmental viral contamination. These findings highlight the efficiency of ordinary cleaning procedures in guaranteeing a safer workplace. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/purmorphamine.html The adoption of additional sanitization protocols should be considered in order to further reduce environmental viral contamination. During the Covid-19 outbreak, a recurrent subject in scientific literature has been brought back into discussion whether surgical masks provide a sufficient protection against airborne SARS-CoV-2 infections. The objective of this review is to summarize the available studies which have compared the respective effectiveness of surgical masks and filtering facepiece respirators for the prevention of infections caused by viruses that are transmitted by the respiratory tract. The relevant scientific literature was identified by querying the PubMed database with a combination of search strings. The narrower search string "(surgical mask *) AND (respirator OR respirators)" included all the relevant articles retrieved using broader search strategies. Of all the relevant articles found, seven systematic reviews were selected and examined. The currently available scientific evidence seems to suggest that surgical masks and N95 respirators/FFP2 confer an equivalent degree of protection against airborne viral inf shorter time. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the widespread use of Respiratory Protective Devices (RPD) is recommended to prevent the spread of infection. This recommendation involves not only healthcare workers but other category of workers and the general population as well, in public places, especially where social distancing is difficult to maintain. The use of facemasks should not cause physical impairment to individuals, especially for people suffering from lung and heart diseases. To evaluate the impact of RPDs on the respiratory function in healthy and asthmatic subjects, in order to identify the fitness for use mainly, but not only for, occupational purposes during COVID-19 outbreak. Ten individuals were included, three of which affected by asthma and three current smokers. A Respiratory Functional Test (RFT) was performed at three times at the beginning of the work shift 1) without wearing and 2) wearing surgical masks, and 3) after 4 hours of usual working activities wearing the masks. Arterial Blood GaOur adapted technique for RFTs could be adopted for the individual RPDs fitness evaluation.Based on mortality data from 93% of Italian municipalities, there was an over 50% excess total mortality in March and a 38% excess in April, corresponding to over 46,000 excess deaths in those two months - as compared to 28,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in March and April. No subsequent excess mortality was observed, and in June reported total deaths were 6.2% less than expected. In the first 6 months of 2020, an 11.1% excess mortality was observed in Italy, and an almost 50% excess in Lombardy, the most affected region. Timely monitoring of total mortality has relevant implications for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and controlling occupational and social exposures. Psychosocial risk management represents a current challenge in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) due to their impacts of such risks on work stress and the rapid changes of the world of work. An effective psychosocial risk management can be carried out on the basis of an integrated multidisciplinary model founded on the risk management paradigm. Over years, the occupational medicine has played an important role at national level in this area, contributing to the creation of an integrated and participatory approach. This study explores the developmental process of psychosocial risk management over time in Europe and Italy, to offer an update on the state of the art at a national level and insights on future perspectives. Through a reflection on research developments, in Europe and in Italy, we outline how the knowledge obtained has been translated into policies, which have encouraged the implementation at international and national level of consolidated practices for the management of psychosocial risks.