Deacon S P, Paddle G M
Kellogg Company of Great Britain Limited, Manchester, UK.
Occup Med (Lond). 1998 May;48(4):227-30. doi: 10.1093/occmed/48.4.227.
A health surveillance study of male grain food manufacturing workers used a respiratory health questionnaire and spirometry to assess the prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms and impaired ventilatory performance. The prevalence of cough, breathlessness, wheeze and chest tightness was between 8-13% but was 20% for rhinitis. Rhinitis was the most common symptom with 37% of those reporting rhinitis describing this as work-related. A case-control analysis of workers reporting rhinitis did not identify any specific occupational activities associated with increased risk of rhinitis. Smoking habit and all respiratory symptoms apart from rhinitis had a significant effect upon ventilatory performance. Occupational exposure to raw grains, flour, ingredients and finished food was categorized as high, medium or low in either continuous or intermediate patterns. Multiple regression analysis confirmed the effects of height, age and smoking upon ventilatory performance. However, occupational exposure to grain, flour, food ingredients and cooked food dusts had no effect upon ventilatory performance. It is concluded that smoking habit is the major determinant of respiratory symptoms and impaired ventilatory function. The excess complaints of rhinitis warrant further study but it would appear that the current occupational exposure limits for grain, flour, food ingredients and cooked food dusts are adequate to protect workers against impairment of ventilatory performance.
一项针对男性谷物食品制造工人的健康监测研究，使用呼吸健康问卷和肺活量测定法来评估与工作相关的呼吸道症状患病率及通气功能受损情况。咳嗽、气短、喘息和胸闷的患病率在8%-13%之间，但鼻炎的患病率为20%。鼻炎是最常见的症状，报告患有鼻炎的人中有37%称其与工作有关。对报告患有鼻炎的工人进行的病例对照分析未发现与鼻炎风险增加相关的任何特定职业活动。吸烟习惯以及除鼻炎外的所有呼吸道症状对通气功能有显著影响。职业接触生谷物、面粉、配料和成品食品被分为高、中、低三种连续或间歇模式。多元回归分析证实了身高、年龄和吸烟对通气功能的影响。然而，职业接触谷物、面粉、食品配料和熟食粉尘对通气功能没有影响。研究得出结论，吸烟习惯是呼吸道症状和通气功能受损的主要决定因素。鼻炎的过多投诉值得进一步研究，但目前谷物、面粉、食品配料和熟食粉尘的职业接触限值似乎足以保护工人免受通气功能损害。
