title: Acute symptoms in coffee workers.
abstract: Processing of green coffee before export, as carried out in Sri Lanka, is a very dusty process. Thirty-eight workers, who were exposed to coffee dust intermittently, were studied. They developed acute symptoms referrable to the eyes, nostrils and respiratory tract. Cough (84.2%), sputum (76.3%), sneezing (73.7%), difficulty in breathing (63.2%) and running nose (55.3%) were the commonest symptoms. Of the workers 10.5% had a wheeze. These symptoms lasted only during the hours that workers were exposed to the dust, and subsided on returning home after the day's work.
authors.affiliation: Central Chest Clinic, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Uragoda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003069:Coffee; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013188:Sri Lanka
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee; D004391:Dust