Department of Occupational Health and Safety, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Research Unit of Population Health, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Front Public Health. 2023 Feb 14;11:1082874. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1082874. eCollection 2023.
The steel factory work environment contains various chemical exposures that can affect indoor air quality and have impact on respiratory health of the workers.
The objective of this study was to assess potential effects of occupational exposures in steel factory workers in Iran on the respiratory symptoms, occurrence and the lung function levels.
This was a cross-sectional study of 133 men working in a steel factory forming the exposed group and 133 male office workers forming the reference group from a steel company in Iran. The participants filled in a questionnaire and underwent spirometry. Work history was used both as dichotomous (exposed/reference) and a quantitative measure of exposure, the latter measured as duration of exposure in the specified work (in years) for the exposed group and zero for the reference group.
Multiple linear regression and Poisson regression were used to adjust for confounding. In Poisson regression analyses, an increased prevalence ratio (PR) of all respiratory symptoms was observed in the exposed group. Lung function parameters were significantly reduced in the exposed group ( < 0.001). There was a dose-response relation between duration of occupational exposures and reduction in the predicted value of FEV1/FVC level (0.177, 95% CI -0.198 to -0.156) in all models.
The results of these analyses showed that occupational exposures in steel factory work increase the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and reduce lung function. Safety training and workplace conditions were found to need improvement. In addition, use of proper personal protective equipment is recommended.
钢铁厂的工作环境包含各种化学物质暴露，这可能会影响室内空气质量，并对工人的呼吸健康产生影响。
本研究旨在评估伊朗钢铁厂工人职业暴露对呼吸系统症状、发生和肺功能水平的潜在影响。
这是一项横断面研究，研究对象为 133 名在伊朗一家钢铁厂工作的男性钢铁工人（暴露组）和 133 名男性办公室工作人员（对照组）。参与者填写了一份问卷，并接受了肺功能检查。工作史既被用作二分类变量（暴露/对照组），也被用作暴露组的暴露时间（以年为单位）的定量测量，对照组为零。
采用多元线性回归和泊松回归来调整混杂因素。在泊松回归分析中，暴露组的所有呼吸系统症状的患病率比值（PR）均升高。暴露组的肺功能参数显著降低（<0.001）。在所有模型中，职业暴露时间与用力肺活量（FEV1）/用力肺活量（FVC）预计值降低之间存在剂量-反应关系（0.177，95%置信区间-0.198 至-0.156）。
这些分析结果表明，钢铁厂工作中的职业暴露会增加呼吸系统症状的患病率并降低肺功能。发现工作场所安全培训和条件需要改进。此外，建议使用适当的个人防护设备。
