Pulmonary functions in tannery workers--a cross sectional study.

Tannery workers are at potential exposure to detrimental agents rendering them vulnerable to respiratory and dermal problems. Thus by performing pulmonary functions among leather tannery workers, we can decipher the effect of chromium and leather dust on lung functions and also the decline of respiratory functions with increasing years of exposure to leather dust. Pulmonary functions were assessed for 130 tannery workers and compared with the 130 unexposed office workers. Pulmonary function measurements namely FVC, FEV1, FEF25-75% and PEFR were measured using portable data logging Spirometer (KOKO Spirometer). The observed pulmonary functions of Tannery-workers in this study showed a reduction in FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF25-75 and PEFR in relation to their predicted values and also compared to the unexposed. Smokers showed a decline in pulmonary functions compared to the non smokers because smoking acts as an additional risk factor in the development of respiratory illnesses. It is worthy to mention that the pulmonary function values correlate negatively with the duration of exposure to leather dust. So this study could provide base line information based upon which legal implementation of preventive measures could be undertaken.