Zuskin E, Mustajbegovic J, Schachter E N, Kern J, Pavicic D, Budak A
Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia.
J Occup Environ Med. 1996 May;38(5):522-7. doi: 10.1097/00043764-199605000-00013.
The prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung-function changes was studied in a group of 81 municipal sanitation workers. In addition, the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function was studied in 65 control workers. There were significantly higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms among the sanitation workers than among the control workers. Sanitation workers (smokers and nonsmokers) 40 years of age or older had higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms than younger workers. In addition, sanitation workers (both smokers and nonsmokers) employed for 10 years or longer had significantly higher prevalences of chronic respiratory symptoms than control workers. There was also a high prevalence of acute symptoms, which developed among the sanitation workers during work shifts. Of these symptoms, prevalences were highest for dryness of the nose and throat, followed by throat and eye irritation. Lung-function testing demonstrated significantly diminished forced vital capacity (FVC) and 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1) for the 81 sanitation workers compared with control values. These differences only become significant after 10 or more years of employment in the sanitation industry and were not entirely explained by smoking. These differences were smaller and not statistically significant for maximum flow rates at 50% and the last 25% of the vital capacity. Our data suggest that sanitation worker--particularly those with long periods of work exposure--may develop acute and/or chronic respiratory symptoms accompanied by decreases in lung function (primarily FVC and FEV1).
对81名市政环卫工人的急性和慢性呼吸道症状及肺功能变化的患病率进行了研究。此外，还对65名对照工人的慢性呼吸道症状患病率和肺功能进行了研究。环卫工人中所有慢性呼吸道症状的患病率显著高于对照工人。40岁及以上的环卫工人（吸烟者和非吸烟者）所有慢性呼吸道症状的患病率均高于年轻工人。此外，工作10年或更长时间的环卫工人（吸烟者和非吸烟者）慢性呼吸道症状的患病率显著高于对照工人。环卫工人在轮班期间也有很高的急性症状患病率。在这些症状中，鼻和咽喉干燥的患病率最高，其次是咽喉和眼睛刺激。肺功能测试显示，与对照值相比，81名环卫工人的用力肺活量（FVC）和1秒用力呼气量（FEV1）显著降低。这些差异只有在从事环卫行业10年或更长时间后才变得显著，并且不能完全用吸烟来解释。对于肺活量50%和最后25%时的最大流速，这些差异较小且无统计学意义。我们的数据表明，环卫工人——尤其是那些长期接触工作环境的人——可能会出现急性和/或慢性呼吸道症状，并伴有肺功能下降（主要是FVC和FEV1）。
