title: Emphysema prevalence related air pollution caused by a cement plant.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To identify adverse pulmonary health effects due to air pollution derived from a cement plant in Korea. The emphysema prevalence in residents around a cement plant was compared to that in the group who live far away from the plant by chest films (PA and lateral view) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) lung images.
  
  
  METHODS
  From June to August in 2013 and from August to November in 2014, chest films and HRCT scan were conducted on residents over the age of 40 who lived around a cement plant. The residents were divided into two groups; a "more exposed group (MEG)" which consisted of 1,046 people who lived within a 1 km radius and a "less exposed group (LEG)" which consisted of 317 people who lived more than 5 km away from the same plant. We compared the emphysema prevalence and estimated the OR of this between the MEG and the LEG by using a chi-square and logistic regression on chest films and HRCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The emphysema prevalence was 9.1 % in the LEG, 14.3 % in the MEG on chest films and 11.4 %, 17.8 % on the HRCT, respectively. The OR of the emphysema prevalence in MEG was 2.92 (95 % CI 1.77-4.83) on the chest films, 2.56 (95 % CI 1.64-3.99) on the HRCT after sex, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, residency period and firewood used history were adjusted. The OR in the less than 29 pack-years smoking history was 1.66 (95 % CI 0.92-3.06) and in the more than 30 pack-years was 3.05 (95 % CI 1.68-5.52) on the chest films, and was 1.68 (95 % CI 0.98-2.90), 2.93 (95 % CI 1.72-4.98) on the HRCT, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The emphysema prevalence seems to be affected by the level of exposure to air pollution derived from the cement plant as well as sex, age, BMI, and smoking history in this study. Moreover, the OR of the case of the more exposed to the air pollution was similar to that of the case in smoking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Seung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Chul Gab
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radioloy, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Han Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Min Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, 558 Pilmun-daero, Dong-gu Gwangju, 61453 Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Yoon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Research, 42 Hwangyong-ro, Seogu Incheon, 22689 Korea.
authors.forename: Choong Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Research, 42 Hwangyong-ro, Seogu Incheon, 22689 Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Research, 42 Hwangyong-ro, Seogu Incheon, 22689 Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Do
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: Air pollution; Cement; Emphysema; HRCT