与未接触人群相比，粉尘暴露对碾米厂工人肺功能的影响。

Biswas Mrinmoy, Pranav Prabhanjan Kumar, Nag Pranab Kumar

Agriculture College, Garhwa, Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, India.

College of Agricultural Engineering, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur, India.

Work. 2023;74(3):945-953. doi: 10.3233/WOR-205146.

BACKGROUND

Paddy milling is the oldest and largest agro-processing industry in India. A large number of workers are employed in the rice mills where they are potentially exposed to dust. It has been shown that exposure to dust results in a high prevalence of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, extrinsic allergic alveoli ties, toxic syndrome, and interstitial lung disease.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dust on rice mill workers' health using lung function tests with comparison to an unexposed population.

PARTICIPANTS

Two hundred eighteen rice mill workers (exposed volunteers) were randomly selected from 25 rice mills in Assam, India. Participants were 18-60 years with at least one year of work experience. Further, 377 volunteers who were not exposed to dust and having similar demographic characteristics also participated as a control group.

METHOD

Pulmonary function tests were conducted for all participants by spirometry. The tests included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC (%), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory flow during the middle half of a forced vital capacity (FEF25-75%). Values from exposed workers were compared with the unexposed volunteers.

RESULTS

It was observed that the lung function parameters FVC, FEV1, PEF and FEF25-75% in exposed workers were significantly decreased compared with unexposed volunteers. There were also significantly decreased FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC%, PEF and FEF25-75% with increase in age and duration of dust exposure. It was further observed that 48% and 32% of the total male and female volunteers, respectively, had evidence of lung disease. Irrespective of gender, approximately 45% of mill workers had evidence of lung disease, of which 21% was restrictive and 24% was obstructive.

CONCLUSION

Compared with unexposed controls, rice mill workers have a greater prevalence of respiratory disease based on pulmonary function tests.

背景

稻谷碾磨是印度最古老且规模最大的农产品加工业。大量工人受雇于碾米厂，在那里他们有潜在的粉尘接触风险。研究表明，接触粉尘会导致呼吸系统疾病的高发病率，如哮喘、慢性支气管炎、外源性过敏性肺泡炎、中毒综合征和间质性肺病。

目的

本研究的目的是通过肺功能测试，与未接触粉尘的人群进行比较，调查粉尘对碾米厂工人健康的影响。

参与者

从印度阿萨姆邦的25家碾米厂中随机选取了218名碾米厂工人（接触粉尘的志愿者）。参与者年龄在18至60岁之间，至少有一年工作经验。此外，377名未接触粉尘且具有相似人口统计学特征的志愿者也作为对照组参与研究。

方法

通过肺活量测定法对所有参与者进行肺功能测试。测试包括用力肺活量（FVC）、一秒用力呼气容积（FEV1）、FEV1/FVC（%）、呼气峰值流速（PEF）和用力肺活量中间一半的用力呼气流量（FEF25 - 75%）。将接触粉尘工人的测试值与未接触粉尘的志愿者进行比较。

结果

观察到，与未接触粉尘的志愿者相比，接触粉尘工人的肺功能参数FVC、FEV1、PEF和FEF25 - 75%显著降低。随着年龄增长和粉尘接触时间延长，FVC、FEV1、FEV1/FVC%、PEF和FEF25 - 75%也显著降低。进一步观察发现，男性和女性志愿者中分别有48%和32%有肺部疾病迹象。无论性别如何，约45%的碾米厂工人有肺部疾病迹象，其中21%为限制性疾病，24%为阻塞性疾病。