Moen Bente Elisabeth, Kayumba Akwilina, Sakwari Gloria, Mamuya Simon Henry David, Bråtveit Magne
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Postbox 7804, NO-5020 Bergen, Norway.
Occupational Safety and Health Authority, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
J Occup Med Toxicol. 2016 Apr 12;11:17. doi: 10.1186/s12995-016-0108-7. eCollection 2016.
Primary coffee processing takes place in countries where coffee is grown, and may include hand picking of coffee to remove low quality beans. Hand picking is mostly performed by women. No previous studies on dust and respiratory health have been performed in this occupational group, although studies indicate respiratory problems among other coffee production workers.
Our aim was to assess dust and endotoxin exposure among hand pickers in a coffee factory and compare the levels with limit values. In addition we wanted to examine the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) as a possible inflammatory marker in the airways among the hand pickers and evaluate the association between FeNO and years of hand picking. All hand pickers in a factory were examined during 1 week. The response was 100 %; 69 participated. FeNO was measured using an electrochemistry-based NIOX MINO device. Nine out of 69 workers (13 %) had levels of FeNO above 25 ppb, indicating presence of respiratory inflammation. A significant positive association was found between increasing FeNO and years of hand picking. Nine personal samples of total dust and endotoxin were taken. None of the dust samples exceeded the occupational limit value for total organic dust of 5 mg/m(3). Three samples of endotoxin (33 %) were above the recommended value of 90 EU/m(3).
Levels of endotoxin were higher than recommended standards among hand pickers, and there was a positive association between the level of exhaled nitrogen oxide and years of work with hand picking coffee.
咖啡初加工在咖啡种植国进行，可能包括人工挑选咖啡豆以去除低质量的豆子。人工挑选大多由女性完成。此前尚未对这一职业群体进行过关于粉尘与呼吸健康的研究，不过已有研究表明其他咖啡生产工人存在呼吸问题。
我们的目的是评估一家咖啡工厂中人工挑选工人的粉尘和内毒素暴露情况，并将这些水平与限值进行比较。此外，我们想检测呼出一氧化氮分数（FeNO）作为人工挑选工人气道中可能的炎症标志物，并评估FeNO与人工挑选年限之间的关联。在1周内对一家工厂的所有人工挑选工人进行了检查。应答率为100%；69人参与。使用基于电化学的NIOX MINO设备测量FeNO。69名工人中有9人（13%）的FeNO水平高于25 ppb，表明存在呼吸道炎症。发现FeNO升高与人工挑选年限之间存在显著正相关。采集了9份总粉尘和内毒素的个人样本。没有一份粉尘样本超过5 mg/m³的总有机粉尘职业限值。三份内毒素样本（33%）高于90 EU/m³的推荐值。
人工挑选工人的内毒素水平高于推荐标准，呼出氮氧化物水平与人工挑选咖啡的工作年限之间存在正相关。
