Effects of professional noxas on pulmonary ventilation in cooking oil industry workers

G. Pozojevic, B. M. Perin (Zrenjanin, Sremska Kamenica, Yugoslavia)         

The aim of the study.

The paper presents the investigation results on the organic dust effects on the ventilation function of the lungs among the exposed workers employed in the cooking oil industry.

Patients and metrhods.

The investigation was conducted at the cooking oil factory [dsquote]Dijamant[dsquote] in Zrenjanin, examining the working environment in the factory sections with the highest level of air pollution. A complete lung function analysis was performed in 46 exposed workers who have been continuously working there for 13.9 years on the mean. The examined patients were subdivided into the smoking and nonsmoking group in order to eliminate the effects of smoking on the obtained results. The control group included administrative workers subclassified in the same way (smokers vs. nonsmokers). The measurements have revealed elevated concentrations of dust particles, which however did not exceed the highest referential limit (HRL).

Results.

In the nonsmoking group of the exposed series, the transfer factor and transfer coefficient were somewhat lower, but within the referential limits as well. However, these parameters were found to be mildly pathological in the smoking subgroup of the exposed series, unlike the normal findings registered in the same subgroup (smokers) of the control series.

Conclusion.

The obtained results suggest that air pollution in the cooking oil factory has bad effects on the bronchopulmonary system, regardless the fact that all the examined subjects were considered healthy.

Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 327s