Kakooei Hossein, Gholami Abdollah, Ghasemkhani Mehdi, Hosseini Mostapha, Panahi Davoud, Pouryaghoub Golamreza
Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Acta Med Iran. 2012;50(2):122-6.
Dust can be produced by almost all production processes in Portland cement factory. Dust exposure potentially can affect respiratory function. But evidence for respiratory effect of cement dust exposure has not been conclusive. In this study we assessed effect of cement dust exposure on respiratory function in a cement production factory. A respiratory symptoms questionnaire was completed and pulmonary function tests were carried out on 94 exposed and 54 non exposed workers at a cement factory in the east of Iran. Additionally, respirable dust level was determined by the gravimetric method. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique was performed to determine the silica phases and the SiO(2) contents of the bulk samples. The arithmetic means (AM) of personal respirable dust were 30.18 mg/m(3) in the crushing, 27 mg/m(3) in the packing, 5.4 mg/m(3) in the cement mill, 5.9 mg/m(3) in the kiln and 5.48 mg/m(3) in the maintenance that were higher than threshold limit value (TLV) of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) which is 5 mg/m(3). This value in the unexposed group was 0.93 mg/m(3). In this study cough, sputum, wheezing and dyspnea were more prevalent among exposed subjects. Exposed workers compared to the unexposed group showed significant reduction in Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV(1)), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), and Forced Expiratory Flow between 25% and 75% of the FVC (FEF(25-75%)) (P<0.05). It can be concluded that in our study there was close and direct association between cement dust exposure and functional impairment among the cement factory workers.
几乎所有的波特兰水泥厂生产过程都会产生粉尘。接触粉尘可能会影响呼吸功能。但是，水泥粉尘接触对呼吸影响的证据尚无定论。在本研究中，我们评估了水泥粉尘接触对一家水泥厂工人呼吸功能的影响。我们完成了一份呼吸症状问卷，并对伊朗东部一家水泥厂的94名接触粉尘工人和54名未接触粉尘工人进行了肺功能测试。此外，采用重量法测定了可吸入粉尘水平。运用X射线荧光（XRF）技术测定了散装样品中的硅相和二氧化硅（SiO₂）含量。个人可吸入粉尘的算术平均值（AM）在破碎车间为30.18毫克/立方米，包装车间为27毫克/立方米，水泥磨为5.4毫克/立方米，窑炉为5.9毫克/立方米，维修车间为5.48毫克/立方米，均高于美国政府工业卫生学家会议（ACGIH）的阈限值（TLV），即5毫克/立方米。未接触组的这一数值为0.93毫克/立方米。在本研究中，咳嗽、咳痰、喘息和呼吸困难在接触粉尘的受试者中更为普遍。与未接触组相比，接触粉尘的工人一秒用力呼气量（FEV₁）、用力肺活量（FVC）以及FVC的25%至75%之间的用力呼气流量（FEF₂₅₋₇₅%）均显著降低（P<0.05）。可以得出结论，在我们的研究中，水泥厂工人接触水泥粉尘与功能损害之间存在密切且直接的关联。
