Respiratory health in Turkish asbestos cement workers: The role of environmental exposure

Aim Benign and malignant pleural and lung diseases due to environmental asbestos exposure constitute an important health problem in Turkey. The country has widespread natural deposits of asbestos in rural parts of central and eastern regions. Few data exists about the respiratory health effects of o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of industrial medicine 2006-08, Vol.49 (8), p.609-616
Main Authors: Akkurt, İbrahim, Önal, Buhara, Demir, Ahmet Uğur, Tüzün, Dilek, Sabır, Handan, Ulusoy, Lütfi, Karadağ, Kaan Ö., Ersoy, Nihat, Çöplü, Lütfi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
asbestos
Asbestos - toxicity
Asbestosis - epidemiology
Asbestosis - etiology
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Construction Materials - toxicity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dust
environmental
health
Humans
Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.)
Interviews as Topic
Medical sciences
occupational
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
Pneumology
respiratory
Respiratory System
Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Spirometry
Surveys and Questionnaires
Toxicology
Turkey
Turkey - epidemiology
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Summary:Aim Benign and malignant pleural and lung diseases due to environmental asbestos exposure constitute an important health problem in Turkey. The country has widespread natural deposits of asbestos in rural parts of central and eastern regions. Few data exists about the respiratory health effects of occupational asbestos exposure in Turkey. A cross‐sectional study was conducted to investigate respiratory health effects of occupational asbestos exposure and the contribution of environmental asbestos exposure. Methods Investigations included asbestos dust measurements in the workplace and application of an interviewer‐administered questionnaire, a standard posteroanterior chest X‐ray and spirometry. Information on birthplace of the workers was obtained in 406 workers and used to identify environmental exposure to asbestos, through a map of geographic locations with known asbestos exposure. Results Asbestos dust concentration in the ambient air of the work sites (fiber/ml) ranged between 0.2 and 0.76 (mean: 0.25, median: 0.22). Environmental exposure to asbestos was determined in 24.4% of the workers. After the adjustment for age, smoking, occupational asbestos exposure, and potential risk factors environmental asbestos exposure was associated with small irregular opacities grade ≥1/0 (44.2% vs. 26.6%, P 
ISSN:0271-3586
1097-0274
DOI:10.1002/ajim.20326