School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
University Hospital, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Am J Ind Med. 2020 Dec;63(12):1116-1123. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23182. Epub 2020 Sep 17.
Information is scarce about the occupational health effects of exposure to alumina dust. This study examines the respiratory effects of inspirable alumina dust exposure in alumina refineries.
An inception cohort study at three alumina refineries in Western Australia recruited 416 participants (351 males, 65 females) between 1995 and 2000 who were followed up annually until 2008 or until exit from study. At each health interview a respiratory questionnaire and lung function test was undertaken, measuring forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV ) and forced vital capacity (FVC). Participants provided job histories which were combined with air monitoring data to calculate cumulative exposure to inspirable alumina dust (mg/m -years). Generalized estimating equations with Poisson distribution and mixed effects models were used to examine the effects of alumina exposure.
The number of exposed participants was relatively small (n = 82, 19.7%). There was no association between alumina dust exposure and prevalence of cough, wheeze or rhinitis. No associations were found between measures of lung function and tertiles of alumina exposure in the first two follow-ups, or the whole follow-up period, though there was a suggestive dose-response trend across exposed groups for decline in absolute FEV (p for trend = .06). For mean annual change in FEV and FVC based on the first three follow-ups it was not possible to rule out an effect above a threshold level of exposure.
There is no evidence of an association between exposure to alumina and the reporting of respiratory symptoms but some evidence for an effect on lung function.
关于接触氧化铝粉尘对职业健康的影响的信息很少。本研究调查了氧化铝精炼厂中可吸入氧化铝粉尘暴露对呼吸的影响。
在西澳大利亚的三家氧化铝精炼厂进行了一项起始队列研究，在 1995 年至 2000 年间招募了 416 名参与者（351 名男性，65 名女性），直到 2008 年或退出研究为止，每年进行一次随访。在每次健康访谈中，进行了呼吸问卷和肺功能测试，测量了一秒用力呼气量（FEV ）和用力肺活量（FVC）。参与者提供了工作经历，这些经历与空气监测数据相结合，计算出可吸入氧化铝粉尘的累积暴露量（mg/m -年）。使用泊松分布的广义估计方程和混合效应模型来研究氧化铝暴露的影响。
暴露组的人数相对较少（n=82，19.7%）。氧化铝粉尘暴露与咳嗽、喘息或鼻炎的患病率之间没有关联。在最初的两次随访或整个随访期间，肺功能指标与氧化铝暴露的三分位数之间没有发现关联，尽管在暴露组中，FEV 的绝对下降呈剂量-反应趋势（趋势 p 值=0.06）。基于前三次随访，FEV 和 FVC 的平均年变化不能排除暴露阈值以上的影响。
没有证据表明暴露于氧化铝与呼吸道症状的报告有关，但有一些证据表明对肺功能有影响。
