Lydahl E
Acta Ophthalmol Suppl. 1984;166:1-63.
The study was undertaken to determine if occupational exposure to infrared (IR) radiation increases the risk of developing cataract. The study includes epidemiologic investigations of two groups of workers exposed to IR radiation and two groups of non IR-exposed controls. The first investigation included 208 iron and steel workers and 208 controls. For each of the workers, the lifetime IR-exposure was calculated with the help of occupational interviews and measurements of the IR-exposure to their eyes in their jobs. Eye examinations including a detailed slit lamp examination of the lens were made. Exposed persons and controls were examined randomly. Wedge shaped opacities, a common type of senile lens opacity, were found in 32% of IR-exposed workers 60 years and older and in 12% of controls of the same age. In younger age groups there was no significant difference between exposed and controls regarding the presence of lens opacities. The second investigation included 209 IR-exposed glass workers and 298 controls. Workers over 50 years of age and with at least 20 years of occupational IR-exposure were included. Special care was taken to include retired workers. Exposure determinations and ophthalmological examinations were made in the same way as in the first study. The eye examinations of the glass workers showed that 16% of glass workers over 70 years of age had been operated for cataract compared to 1% of controls of the same age. In neither of the two studies was it possible to detect a dose-effect correlation. The exposure measurements showed that the maximal doses in both the iron and the glass industry are about the same. There are, however, a large number of jobs in the iron and steel industry that give low doses while most jobs in the glass works give high exposures. Cataract was found to be more common in the left than in the right eye. Measurements of the exposure to the two eyes separately also showed that the left eye in some working moments is exposed to higher irradiances than the right. A family history of cataract was found to increase the risk for the development of cataract in glass workers.
开展这项研究是为了确定职业性接触红外线（IR）辐射是否会增加患白内障的风险。该研究包括对两组接触IR辐射的工人和两组未接触IR辐射的对照组进行流行病学调查。第一项调查包括208名钢铁工人和208名对照组人员。对于每一位工人，借助职业访谈和对其工作中眼睛IR暴露量的测量来计算其一生的IR暴露量。进行了眼部检查，包括对晶状体进行详细的裂隙灯检查。对暴露组人员和对照组人员进行随机检查。在60岁及以上的IR暴露工人中，32%发现有楔形混浊，这是一种常见的老年性晶状体混浊类型，而在同年龄的对照组中这一比例为12%。在较年轻的年龄组中，暴露组和对照组在晶状体混浊的存在方面没有显著差异。第二项调查包括209名接触IR辐射的玻璃工人和298名对照组人员。纳入了50岁以上且至少有20年职业性IR暴露的工人。特别注意纳入了退休工人。暴露量测定和眼科检查的方式与第一项研究相同。玻璃工人的眼部检查显示，70岁以上的玻璃工人中有16%因白内障接受了手术，而同年龄的对照组中这一比例为1%。在这两项研究中均未检测到剂量-效应相关性。暴露量测量表明，钢铁行业和玻璃行业的最大剂量大致相同。然而，钢铁行业有大量工作的剂量较低，而玻璃厂的大多数工作剂量较高。发现白内障在左眼比右眼更常见。分别对两只眼睛的暴露量进行测量还表明，在某些工作时刻，左眼受到的辐照度高于右眼。发现有白内障家族史会增加玻璃工人患白内障的风险。
