title: Respiratory health effects from occupational exposure to wood dust in sawmills.
abstract: Spirometric lung functions were recorded for 109 workers (mean age 26.4 +/- 8.2 yr) occupationally exposed (mean exposure 8.9 +/- 7.7 yr) to soft wood dust in local sawmills along with 88 unexposed controls (mean age 28.7 +/- 9.9 yr) belonging to the same socioeconomic status to assess the prevalence of respiratory impairment in the exposed population. The results of the study showed a significantly higher prevalence of overall respiratory impairment in the exposed group even after standardizing for smoking habits (p less than 0.001). The adjusted rate for respiratory impairment in the exposed group was 29.4% as compared to 2.2% observed in the unexposed controls. The pattern of respiratory abnormality observed in the sawmill workers was predominantly the restrictive type (28.4%), indicating lower levels of forced vital capacity (FVC) in the exposed group; while in the control group, there were none with lung restriction The prevalence of airflow limitation, however, was similar in the exposed workers (1.8%) and controls (2.2%), thereby, indicating that bronchial obstruction was independent of wood dust exposure. It is concluded that the dust exposure in sawmills is associated mainly with restrictive type of pulmonary impairment in the exposed workers.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Division, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Husain
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mathur
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology*; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000209:etiology; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D014934:Wood
chemical_list: D004391:Dust