[The effect of the length of exposure and smoking on respiratory function in workers exposed to asbestos-cement dust].

Respiratory function tests were performed in 110 workers who were occupationally exposed to asbestos-cement dust in the period from 7 to 34 years. Due to the results obtained, the following groups of patients were analysed according to years of asbestos-cement exposure and the habit of cigarette smoking. The analysis of the years of exposure to asbestos-cement dust revealed that the workers with the exposure longer than 16 years had significantly lower FVC and FEV1 (P less than 0.001) than the workers whose exposure was less than 16 years. In view of increasing age this deterioration proved to be significantly higher than it had been expected. Of all the subjects included in this study 7% of them were found to have a partial respiratory insufficiency. The phenomenon could not be explained either by the length of exposure or by the habit of cigarette smoking. In the smoking subjects with the longest exposure, a markedly lower SaHbO2 was found as compared to the smokers with the shortest exposure (P less than 0.05).