Ventilatory function changes over a workshift.
Thirty-four production workers at three chemical plants were tested for acute changes in lung function over the course of their three-day, twelve-hour workshift. Mean percentages of the predicted lung function indices (FVC, FEV, and FEF 25-75) showed a workshift decrement, particularly evident in the evening shift. A workweek effect was shown in that no recovery in mean %FEV1 and %FEF-25-75 was shown by the last working day. Diurnal variation in respiratory function was regarded as being only partly responsible for the observed workshift effect.
D000328:Adult; D002617:Chemical Industry; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008450:Maximal Midexpiratory Flow Rate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D013997:Time Factors; D014797:Vital Capacity