title: Airway symptoms and lung function among male workers in an area polluted from an oil tank explosion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether working in an industrial harbor where an oil tank exploded was associated with more airway symptoms and lower lung function in men 1.5 years later.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study of 180 men, 18 to 67 years old, airway symptoms and lung function among men who worked in the industrial harbor at the time of the explosion was compared with those of working men with residence more than 20 km away. Regression analyses are adjusted for smoking, occupational exposure, atopy, recent infection, and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exposed men had significantly more upper (ORirritated nose = 2.89 [95% confidence interval = 1.31 to 6.37]) and lower (ORdyspnea uphill = 3.79 [95% confidence interval = 1.69 to 8.46]) airway symptoms, and some indication of more reversible airway obstruction than unexposed workers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Men working in an area with an oil tank explosion had more airway symptoms and indication of more airway obstruction 1.5 years after the event.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Occupational Medicine (Drs Granslo, Hollund, Lygre, Svanes, and Moen), Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen; and Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care (Drs Bråtveit, Svanes, and Moen), University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Jens-Tore
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Granslo
authors.forename: Magne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bråtveit
authors.forename: Bjørg Eli
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Hollund
authors.forename: Stein Håkon Låstad
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lygre
authors.forename: Cecilie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Svanes
authors.forename: Bente Elisabeth
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Moen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005107:Explosions; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012137:Respiratory System; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D010578:Petroleum