Effect of time of exposure to environmental risk on the lung function of foundry workers: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

[Purpose] This cross-sectional study aimed to compare foundry workers of the metallurgical industry with high and low exposure time and with a control group. [Subject and Methods] The workers were evaluated for pulmonary function and peak expiratory flow (PEF), respiratory symptoms, smoking habits, and physical activity level. Descriptive statistical analysis and ANOVA one-way test were used. [Results] The mean age was 33.9 ± 8.25 years (18–59), pulmonary function: FVC: 95 ± 18% of predicted, FEV1: 95.0 ± 15.8% of predicted, FEV1/FVC ratio of 0.82 ± 0.09, and PEF = 499.7 ± 118.5 l/min. Overall, 85.1% of workers were classified that physically active, 7.93% of workers reported respiratory symptoms, and 14.28% reported being smokers. There was no statistically significant difference between groups for the variables of lung function. [Conclusion] The pulmonary function is preserved in foundry workers independently of exposure time.

Predictive validity analysis of six reference equations for the 6-minute walk test in healthy Brazilian men: a cross-sectional study

“…This is a cross-sectional study of 103 healthy males aged 18–55, employed in general services, maintenance, operations, and industry, recruited from two universities and a foundry between February and September 2014. 20 , 21 …”

Smoking, Production Factors and Pulmonary Injuries in Mechanical Engineering Workers

“…Mechanical engineering is one of the major branches of the industries in Bulgaria [1]. The technological processes in machine-building enterprises are numerous and diverse [2]. The workers in mechanical engineering are exposed to a variety of risk factors related to the working environment -dustiness, adverse microclimate and chemicals [3,4,5].…”