Assessment of the lung function status of the goldsmiths working in an unorganized sector of India

Respiratory Abnormalities among Occupationally Exposed, Non-Smoking Brick Kiln Workers from Punjab, India

BACKGROUND

Brick manufacturing industry is one of the oldest and fast-growing industries in India that employs a large section of people. Brick kiln workers are occupationally exposed to air pollutants. Nonetheless, only a few studies have so far been conducted on their respiratory health.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the extent of respiratory impairment in brick kiln workers and to correlate it with the duration of exposure.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted. Spirometric parameters of 110 non-smoking male brick kiln workers aged 18-35 years in Patiala district, Punjab, India, were compared with an age-matched comparison group of 90 unexposed individuals.

RESULTS

Brick kiln workers showed a significant (p<0.05) decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced mid-expiratory flow rate (FEF_25-75%) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) compared with those of the comparison group. The extent of deterioration in lung function of brick kiln workers was associated with the duration of exposure. In workers with >8 years of exposure, the mean values of FEV₁ (1.92 L), FVC (2.01 L), FEF_25-75% (2.19 L/s) and PEFR (4.81 L/s) were significantly (p<0.05) lower than those recorded in workers with <8 years of exposure in whom the values were 2.01 L, 2.68 L, 2.71 L/s, and 5.76 L/s, respectively.

CONCLUSION

There is a significant association between exposure to workplace pollutants and lung function deterioration among brick kiln workers.

Cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and ventilation effectiveness in patients after clinical cure of acute irritant gas poisoning

The aim of this study is to assess the medium to long-term effect of acute irritant gas poisoning on cardiopulmonary exercise function in patients after clinical cure. Fourteen patients after an average of 18.5 months of clinical cure of acute irritant gas poisoning were recruited, and 14 healthy individuals were selected as control. All subjects were examined by resting pulmonary function testing (RPFT), cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), and arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis. No statistically significant differences were found between poisoning and control groups for baseline parameters (age, height, and weight) or ABG values (pH, PaO2, PaCO2, and SaO2) (P > 0.05). For most RPFT parameters, including FEV1/FVC, FEV1, FEV1%pred, RV/TLC, DLCO%, and FVC%, no statistically significant differences were observed between poisoning and control groups (P > 0.05). However, MVV% was significantly lower in poisoning group compared with healthy individuals (P < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed for some CPET parameters, including peak VO2, peak VO2/kg, peak VE, and lowest VE/VCO2 (P < 0.05), and peak load, V D/V T, and peak PETCO2 (P < 0.01) between the two groups. However, there were no statistically significant differences in peak VO2%pred or peak O2 pulse between poisoning and control groups (P > 0.05). Compared with controls, patients with acute irritant gas poisoning had decreased cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and ventilation effectiveness after clinical cure.