Low I, Mitchell C
Br J Ind Med. 1985 Feb;42(2):101-5. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.2.101.
A survey was carried out in a steel foundry in Brisbane to evaluate the nature and frequency of respiratory symptoms and to assess ventilatory function. The foundry used many moulding processes including the Furane, Isocure, Shell, carbon dioxide, and oil sand systems. Nasal symptoms and wheeze were often reported, particularly by workers in the general foundry and core shop, and on a semiautomated line. By contrast, workers in the aftercast section not exposed to fumes or vapours from the various moulding processes reported these symptoms less often. Of 46 workers exposed to moulding fumes and vapours, 11 had developed a wheeze while working at the foundry. Wheeze and other respiratory tract symptoms were often attributed by the workers to exposure to substances at work, particularly from the Shell process which uses phenol formaldehyde resin and hexamethylenetetramine. Symptoms were reported also, but less often, on exposure to materials used in the Furane process (urea formaldehyde and furfuryl alcohol) and the Isocure process (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, phenol formaldehyde, and dimethylethylamine). Ventilatory function studied over Monday and Friday showed a small and inconsistent changes. The six subjects working on the semiautomated line showed a small decrease in FEV1 (+/- SEM) (208 +/- 70 ml) only on Monday; this differed significantly from that in 17 aftercast workers (9 +/- 50 ml, p less than 0.05). Ventilatory function recorded before work on Monday morning showed no evidence of chronic airway obstruction in any group. Most environmental measurements were below the threshold limit values (TLV) except in the general foundry, where furfuryl alcohol was detected at concentrations of up to 50 ppm and formaldehyde at 4 ppm. The onset of symptoms in relation to exposure to various fumes and vapours suggests that both irritant and hypersensitivity mechanisms are present. As environmental modifications had occurred recently the apparent hypersensitivity may relate to past exposure levels above the TLV.
在布里斯班的一家钢铁铸造厂进行了一项调查，以评估呼吸道症状的性质和频率，并评估通气功能。该铸造厂采用了多种造型工艺，包括呋喃、异氰酸酯、壳型、二氧化碳和油砂系统。经常有人报告出现鼻部症状和喘息，特别是在总铸造车间和型芯车间的工人以及半自动生产线上的工人中。相比之下，后铸区未接触各种造型工艺产生的烟雾或蒸汽的工人报告这些症状的频率较低。在46名接触造型烟雾和蒸汽的工人中，有11人在铸造厂工作时出现了喘息。喘息和其他呼吸道症状通常被工人归因于工作中接触的物质，特别是壳型工艺中使用的苯酚甲醛树脂和六亚甲基四胺。接触呋喃工艺（尿素甲醛和糠醇）和异氰酸酯工艺（亚甲基二苯基二异氰酸酯、苯酚甲醛和二甲基乙胺）使用的材料时也有症状报告，但频率较低。周一和周五对通气功能的研究显示变化较小且不一致。在半自动生产线上工作的6名受试者仅在周一FEV1（±标准误）出现了小幅下降（208±70毫升）；这与17名后铸工人的情况有显著差异（9±50毫升，p＜0.05）。周一上午工作前记录的通气功能在任何组中均未显示出慢性气道阻塞的迹象。除了总铸造车间外，大多数环境测量值均低于阈限值（TLV），在总铸造车间检测到糠醇浓度高达50 ppm，甲醛浓度为4 ppm。与接触各种烟雾和蒸汽相关的症状发作表明，刺激和超敏反应机制都存在。由于最近进行了环境改造，明显的超敏反应可能与过去高于TLV的接触水平有关。
