Cement Dust Exposure and Ventilatory Function Impairment: An Exposure-Response Study

We investigated cumulative total cement dust exposure and ventilatory function impairment at a Portland cement factory in Tanzania. All 126 production workers were exposed. The control group comprised all 88 maintenance workers and 32 randomly chosen office workers. Exposed workers had significantly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2004-07, Vol.46 (7), p.658-667
Main Authors: Mwaiselage, Julius, Bråtveit, Magne, Moen, Bente, Mashalla, Yohana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Cement
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Construction Materials
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dust
Human exposure
Humans
Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.)
Lung Diseases - etiology
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Occupational Exposure
Occupations
Odds Ratio
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Respiratory Function Tests
Risk Factors
Tanzania
Toxicology
Ventilation
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Summary:We investigated cumulative total cement dust exposure and ventilatory function impairment at a Portland cement factory in Tanzania. All 126 production workers were exposed. The control group comprised all 88 maintenance workers and 32 randomly chosen office workers. Exposed workers had significantly lower forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF), FEV₁/FVC, FVC%, FEV₁ % and PEF%, than controh adjusted for age, duration of employment, height, and pack-years. Cumulative total dust exposure was significantly associated with reduced FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and peak expiratory flow rate adjusted for age, height and pack-years. Cumulative total dust exposure more than 300 mg/m³ year versus lower than 100 mg/m³ years was significantly associated with increased risk of developing airflow limitation (odds ratio = 9.9). The current occupational exposure limit for total cement dust (10 mg/m³) appears to be too high to prevent respiratory health effects among cement workers.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/01.jom.0000131787.02250.79