title: Acute and chronic respiratory effects of occupational exposure to ammonia.
abstract: In a soda ash plant, 58 workers exposed to mean airborne ammonia levels of 9.2 +/- 1.4 ppm were compared with 31 control workers with a mean exposure of 0.3 +/- 0.1 ppm. There were no differences between the groups in the reporting of respiratory or cutaneous symptoms, sense of smell, baseline lung function, or change in lung function over a work shift at the beginning and end of a workweek. No relationships between level or length of ammonia exposure and lung function results were demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Holness
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Purdham
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nethercott
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000641:Ammonia / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002617:Chemical Industry; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia