title: Respiratory and irritant health effects in tollbooth collectors in Taiwan.
abstract: Toll collectors are potentially exposed to high concentrations of a variety of automotive emissions. The purpose of this study is to assess if there is an excess of adverse health outcomes among toll collectors. Self-reported chronic respiratory symptoms and acute irritative symptoms were assessed in a cross-sectional study among 363 toll collectors (exposure group) and 147 office workers (control group). The prevalence rates for chronic respiratory symptoms were not significantly different between the exposure group and the control group. This could be related to the short length of employment for the toll collectors. Another likely explanation for not detecting apparent respiratory effects might be that symptomatic workers drop out of this work a few years after starting the job. Acute irritative symptoms (nose, throat, nausea, and headache), however, were significantly more common among the toll collectors than among the controls.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Yuh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu-Fu
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hung-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Bi-Hua
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Fung-Chang
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Trong-Neng
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015995:Prevalence; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013624:Taiwan; D014186:Transportation; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D001335:Vehicle Emissions