Faculty of Medicine, University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malemba-Nkulu, Malemba, Democratic Republic of the Congo .
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 15;17(24):9384. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17249384.
Thousands of artisanal workers are exposed to mineral dusts from various origins in the African Copperbelt. We determined the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function, and urinary metals among artisanal stone-crushers in Lubumbashi.
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 48 male artisanal stone-crushers and 50 male taxi-drivers using a standardized questionnaire and spirometry. Concentrations of trace metals were measured by Inductively Coupled - Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) in urine spot samples.
Urinary Co, Ni, As, and Se were higher in stone-crushers than in control participants. Wheezing was more prevalent ( = 0.021) among stone-crushers (23%) than among taxi-drivers (6%). In multiple logistic regression analysis, the job of a stone-crusher was associated to wheezing (adjusted Odds Ratio 4.45, 95% Confidence Interval 1.09-18.24). Stone-crushers had higher values (% predicted) than taxi-drivers for Forced Vital Capacity (105.4 ± 15.9 vs. 92.2 ± 17.8, = 0.048), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (104.4 ± 13.7 vs. 88.0 ± 19.6, = 0.052), and Maximum Expiratory Flow at 25% of the Forced Vital Capacity (79.0.1 ± 20.7 vs. 55.7 ± 30.1, = 0.078).
Stone-crushers were more heavily exposed to mineral dust and various trace elements than taxi-drivers, and they had a fourfold increased risk of reporting wheezing, but they did not have evidence of more respiratory impairment than taxi-drivers.
在非洲铜带，数千名手工业者接触到来自不同来源的矿物粉尘。我们在卢本巴希确定了个体手工碎石工的呼吸症状、肺功能和尿液金属流行率。
我们对 48 名男性个体手工碎石工和 50 名男性出租车司机进行了横断面研究，使用标准化问卷和肺活量测定法。通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测量尿斑样本中痕量金属的浓度。
与对照组相比，尿钴、镍、砷和硒在碎石工中更高。碎石工中喘息更为常见（=0.021）（23%），而出租车司机中喘息较少（6%）。在多变量逻辑回归分析中，个体手工碎石工的工作与喘息相关（调整后比值比 4.45，95%置信区间 1.09-18.24）。与出租车司机相比，碎石工的用力肺活量（%预测值）更高（105.4±15.9 对 92.2±17.8，=0.048）、1 秒用力呼气量（104.4±13.7 对 88.0±19.6，=0.052）和用力肺活量 25%时的最大呼气流量（79.0.1±20.7 对 55.7±30.1，=0.078）。
与出租车司机相比，碎石工接触矿物粉尘和各种微量元素的程度更高，报告喘息的风险增加了四倍，但他们的呼吸损伤证据并不比出租车司机多。
