V Bradic | PubMed Health

PubMed1997

Respiratory function in shoe manufacturing workers.

A study of respiratory findings was performed on 376 female workers employed in a shoe manufacturing plant. The mean age of the workers was 32 years and the mean duration of their employment was 12 years. These workers were predominantly nonsmokers. Acute and chronic respiratory symptoms were recorded for each worker, and lung function was measured before and after the work shift. Maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves were performed on which forced vital capacity (FVC), 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and flow rates at 50% and the last 25% (FEF50, FEF25) were measured. Significantly higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms were recorded in exposed compared to control workers; in particular, chest tightness (exposed: 44.7%; control: 0%), dyspnea (exposed: 42.6%; control: 2.0%), and rhinitis (exposed: 46.3%; control: 2.4%) were far more prevalent in workers than in controls. Among the shoe workers, there was also a high prevalence of acute symptoms that developed during the work shift, being most pronounced for nose and throat irritation (61.4%). The prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms increased with duration of employment. Statistically significant across-shift reductions were recorded for all ventilatory capacity tests for the group as a whole. In comparison to predicted, the measured ventilatory capacity parameters were significantly lower for all workers (p < 0.01). Lung function abnormalities increased with duration of employment. Environmental measurements demonstrated that benzene, fur, and synthetic fibers were found at higher than allowable maximal concentrations (Croatian standards). The data suggest that work in the shoe manufacturing industry may be responsible for the development of acute and chronic respiratory impairment.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1996

Respiratory findings in workers not exposed to air pollutants.

The prevalences of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function changes were studied in a group of 806 workers working in a "clean environment." Acute symptoms during the work shift were reported by smokers but were essentially absent in nonsmokers. Chronic respiratory-symptom prevalences were similar to those reported in community-based populations, with smokers experiencing more chronic symptoms than nonsmokers. Baseline lung function measurements indicated no significant differences with values obtained from prediction equations based on community populations. There were significant across-shift increases in all ventilatory capacity tests (forced vital capacity, 1-second forced expiratory volume, and maximum expiratory flow rates at 50% and the last 25% of the vital capacity) varying from +1.9% to +9.8% of the preshift values. Workers older than 40 years of age and those employed for more than 10 years had similar across-shift changes compared with younger workers and those with longer durations of employment. Our data indicate that workers in clean work environments (with the exception of smokers) complain of few acute or chronic respiratory symptoms and have normal lung function. These workers experience increases in lung function across the work shift, probably reflecting normal diurnal variation. Smokers, although significantly more affected than nonsmokers, do not appear to have work-related findings, and smoking appears to be the most significant risk factor for the development of lung disease in unexposed workers. In this study, community-based control data was equivalent to worker control data in unexposed workers.

Adolescent↗