Influence of smoking on respiratory symptoms and lung function indices in sawmill workers in Benin city, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study was done to assess the influence of smoking on respiratory symptoms and respiratory function in sawmill workers in Benin City. 150 sawmill workers who were all males and aged between 18 and 50 years, and had been in continuous employment in sawmill factories for a minimum of one year were studied. They were selected by a two-stage random sampling process from sawmills in Benin City. These were compared to 150 age and sex matched controls in order to determine the effect of sawdust exposure on the respiratory system. Questionnaire was used to elicit morbidity patterns and anthropometric measurements were also made. Respiratory rates, Peak Expiratory Flow Rates and Blood Pressures were measured in both groups. Respiratory symptoms were more common among sawmill workers compared to the controls. Smoking by some of these workers further aggravated their respiratory symptoms. Although blood pressure was similar in both groups, Respiratory rates were higher and Peak Flow Rates were lower in the sawmill workers compared to the controls (20.83  2.02 cycles/minute and 516.72  38.48 L/minute for the sawmill workers; 15.45  1.23 cycles/minute and 575.37  27.34 L/minute for the controls, respectively). Less than 5% of the sawmill workers wore protective devices/clothing, and health and safety standards were neither practiced nor enforced. The findings suggest that respiratory symptoms especially sputum production and chest pain are common in sawmill workers. Respiratory function is compromised in these workers.

Comparative study of morbidities in sawmills workers from central India: a cross sectional study

“…In our study most of the workers had sawdust exposure of <5 years with a mean duration of exposure (years)= 7.59±5.89 years. These findings are consistent with the findings of Oluwatosin et al, Ugheoke et al 15,18 However contradictory observations were noted by Sakariya et al and Boskabady et al 1,16 This could be due to the unskilled workers employed in unorganized sector with frequent job changing tendency in present study.…”

Utilization of personal protective equipment among sawmill workers in Ilorin metropolis, north-central Nigeria

“…occupational exposures in sawmill implied that workers in sawmills are at risk of ill health. In Nigeria, various studies have shown the role of occupational exposure to environmental pollutants in the incidence of respiratory diseases (3). Another example is the high levels of noise that have long been recognized by industrial safety technicians as unsafe to workers.…”

Isokinetic Assessment of Hip Rotators in Patients With Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain

“…Moreover, along many years before, asthma was reported among brick kilns workers with variable prevalence that ranged generally between 6% and 14% in those studies : Myers et al, 1989;Friis et al,1999;Mustajbegovic et al, 2003;Mwaiselage et al, 2005;Ugheoke et al, 2006;Dehghan et al, 2009;and Singh et al, 2011). Monga et al, (2012), clarified that the increased prevalence of respiratory complaints like cough, phlegm, wheezing, breathlessness and asthma among brick kiln workers were due to exposure to respirable dust levels which exceed the respirable dust limit of 5.0 mg/m3 as given by OSHA and the Indian Union Ministry of Labour in absence of proper protective equipments causing serious health problems.…”