Occupational Medicine Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Workplace Health Saf. 2013 May;61(5):213-20. doi: 10.1177/216507991306100505. Epub 2013 Apr 25.
Workers in the rubber industry are exposed to pulmonary health hazards. The main purpose of this study was to assess the combined effect of cigarette smoking and occupational exposures on lung function. The exposed group consisted of tire manufacturing workers in production units and the non-exposed group included executives from the same factory. The researchers calculated the synergy index (SI) to determine the combined effect of exposures to cigarette smoke and pulmonary health hazards on lung function. A significant correlation was found between occupational exposures in the rubber industry and abnormal spirometric findings (p < .05). The synergistic effect of cigarette smoking and occupational exposures on lung function was significant (SI = 2.25; p < .05). This study demonstrated that occupational exposures and smoking may have a synergistic effect on the respiratory systems of tire manufacturing workers. The results suggest that tire manufacturing companies should consider establishing spirometric surveillance systems in their factories. Also, smoking cessation should be promoted, engineering controls applied, and respiratory protection provided to workers.
橡胶行业工人面临肺部健康危害。本研究的主要目的是评估吸烟和职业暴露对肺功能的综合影响。暴露组由生产部门的轮胎制造工人组成，非暴露组包括来自同一工厂的管理人员。研究人员计算了协同指数（SI），以确定吸烟和肺部健康危害对肺功能的综合影响。研究发现，橡胶行业的职业暴露与肺功能异常的肺活量测定结果之间存在显著相关性（p<0.05）。吸烟和职业暴露对肺功能的协同作用具有统计学意义（SI=2.25；p<0.05）。本研究表明，职业暴露和吸烟可能对轮胎制造工人的呼吸系统产生协同作用。研究结果提示轮胎制造公司应考虑在工厂建立肺功能监测系统。同时，应提倡戒烟，采取工程控制措施，并为工人提供呼吸保护。
