Linna Asko, Oksa Panu, Palmroos Pirjo, Roto Pekka, Laippala Pekka, Uitti Jukka
Outokumpu Zinc Oy, Kokkola, Finland.
Am J Ind Med. 2003 Aug;44(2):124-32. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10258.
Cobalt production workers are exposed to metallic cobalt and nickel and their compounds and to different irritant gases. The aim of our study was to determine whether long-term exposure is associated with an increased occurrence of respiratory symptoms and findings or diseases, other than asthma, which is a known hazard, among cobalt processing workers.
The study population was comprised of 110 current and former cobalt workers who had worked more than 10 years in a cobalt plant. The reference group consisted of 140 unexposed workers. All the participants were men. The analysis was based on exposure history, pulmonary function, chest X-ray findings, and symptom questionnaires.
Symptoms of asthma based on questionnaire responses were statistically more prevalent among the exposed workers. The respiratory flow rates MEF25 and MEF50, which refer to smaller airways, were significantly lower among the smoking exposed workers than among the smoking unexposed workers. The causative factors of these symptoms and pulmonary function changes could not be determined by the study. One new case of cobalt asthma and one case of allergic asthma were diagnosed in the exposed population. No cases of hard metal disease or fibrosing alveolitis were found.
No chronic respiratory diseases, except asthma, were found among cobalt production workers in this study.
钴生产工人会接触金属钴、镍及其化合物以及不同的刺激性气体。我们研究的目的是确定长期接触是否会导致钴加工工人出现呼吸道症状、检查结果或疾病（已知危害的哮喘除外）的发生率增加。
研究人群包括110名目前和曾经在钴厂工作超过10年的钴工人。对照组由140名未接触者组成。所有参与者均为男性。分析基于接触史、肺功能、胸部X光检查结果和症状问卷。
根据问卷回答，哮喘症状在接触工人中在统计学上更为普遍。涉及较小气道的呼吸流速MEF25和MEF50在吸烟的接触工人中显著低于吸烟的未接触工人。该研究无法确定这些症状和肺功能变化的致病因素。在接触人群中诊断出1例新的钴哮喘病例和1例过敏性哮喘病例。未发现硬金属病或纤维化肺泡炎病例。
本研究中钴生产工人未发现除哮喘外的慢性呼吸道疾病。
