Coal and the lung.

Seaton, Anthony

doi:10.1136/thx.38.4.241

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…It is plausible that diVerent sized particles within the welding fume are able to act independently on diVerent sized airways within the lung, to produce a combination of both chronic bronchitis and airways disease in a similar manner to that suggested for coal workers. 23 The specific agents causing these findings are not known, although exposure to NO 2 alone has been linked to respiratory symptoms in metal cutting, 24 exaggerated levels of bronchial responsiveness, 25 and morphological changes 26 in the human airway after exposure. Also, as NO 2 is relatively insoluble in the human airway, considerable amounts may be inhaled before any irritant eVect is noted by the workers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic bronchitis, work related respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function in welders in New Zealand.

Bradshaw¹,

Fishwick²,

Slater³

et al. 1998

Occup Environ Med

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Objectives-A cross sectional study of respiratory symptoms and lung function in welders was performed at eight New Zealand welding sites: 62 current welders and 75 non-welders participated. Methods-A questionnaire was administered to record demographic data, smoking habit, and current respiratory symptoms. Current and previous welding exposures were recorded to calculate a total lifetime welding fume exposure index. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were measured before the start of the shift. Results-There were no significant diVerences in ethnicity, smoking habits, or years of work experience between welders and non-welders. Symptoms of chronic bronchitis were more common in current welders (11.3%) than in non-welders (5.0%). Of those workers with a cumulative exposure index to welding fume >10 years, 16.7% reported symptoms of chronic bronchitis compared with 4.7% of those with a cumulative exposure index <4 years (odds ratio (OR) 4.1, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.90 to 17.6). Workers with chronic bronchitis had significantly lower measures of baseline PEF (p=0.008) and FEV 1 /FVC ratio (p=0.001) than workers without chronic bronchitis. Multivariate analysis showed that current smoking (OR 9.3, 1.0 to 86.9) and total exposure index to welding fumes >10 years (OR 9.5, 1.3 to 71.9) were independent risk factors for chronic bronchitis. The report of any work related respiratory symptom was more prevalent in welders (30.7%) than non-welders (15.0%) and workers with these symptoms had significantly lower FEV 1 (p=0.004) and FVC (p=0.04) values. Multivariate analysis identified a high proportion of time spent welding in confined spaces as the main risk factor for reporting these symptoms (OR 2.8, 1.0 to 8.3). Conclusion-This study has documented a high prevalence of symptoms of chronic bronchitis and other work related respiratory symptoms in current welders. Also, workers with chronic bronchitis had reduced PEF and FEV 1 /FVC compared with those without chronic bronchitis. These symptoms related both to cigarette smoking and a measure of lifetime exposure to welding fume. (Occup Environ Med 1998;55:150-154)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic bronchitis, work related respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function in welders in New Zealand.

Bradshaw¹,

Fishwick²,

Slater³

et al. 1998

Occup Environ Med

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“…For example, in one recent study [Attfield and Hodous, 19921, an exposure of 4 mg/m3 (a dust level commonly experienced by face workers prior to 1969 [Jacobson, 19711) was associated with a decrement of close to 5 ml per year, similar to that associated with smoking. Hence, these findings provide prima facie evidence that dust exposure is harmful, a view which is held by some authorities [Seaton, 1983;Becklake, 19851. Yet not all agree with this conclusion. Some consider that, in the absence of progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), coal miners suffer from little functional impairment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Does regression analysis of lung function data obtained from occupational epidemiologic studies lead to misleading inferences regarding the true effect of smoking?

Attfield

Hodous

1995

American J Industrial Med

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Exposure-response studies of the relationship between ventilatory function and dust exposure in workers are often quantified using linear regression methods. In coal miners, this technique has indicated that average effects of smoking and moderate dust exposure are roughly equivalent. However, the validity of direct comparison of the average effects of smoking and dust exposure has been questioned, the argument being that smoking causes severe effects in a minority, but leaves the remainder largely unaffected. This hypothesis was studied by examining distributions of FEV1 in a group of working coal miners where mean effects associated with both smoking and dust exposure have been detected. Overall, the results suggest that comparison of average effects of smoking and dust exposure derived from linear regression analysis is valid and not misleading.

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“…However, pneumoconiosis has also been reported in urban dogs (Metin and others 1990). Anthracosis, a type of pneumoconiosis (Seaton 1983), occurs as a result of the inhalation of carbon particles by humans (Seaton 1983, Oshima 1990, Vakharia and others 1990) and animals (Thomson 1984). Anthracosis has been known in mining communities since the 18th century (Oshima 1990), and it has also been detected in the lungs of Egyptian mummies (Walker and others 1987).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are no previous reports of anthracosis in cattle. However, anthracosis has been reported in humans (Seaton 1983, Vakharia and others 1990, Grobbelaar and Bateman 1991, Murty and Das 1993, Roth and others 1998), dogs (Day and others 1996) and in birds, reptiles and various other mammals kept in captivity (Choudary and others 1986). In addition, anthracosis has been induced experimentally in rats (Kukharenko and others 1988, Takaki and others 1989).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%