Respiratory Health and Work in the Post-Katrina Environment

Details

• Personal Author:
  Freyder L ; Glindmeyer HW ; Jones, Richard ; Lefante JJ ; Rando RJ
• Description:
  Rationale: New Orleans residents and workers have had exposures to bioaerosols and other noxious contaminants left by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina. In a longitudinal study to examine associations between work in and around flood-damaged structures and the risks of respiratory illness, baseline findings are presented. Methods: Spirometry was performed on 594 participants who worked for various public and private institutions, or were private residents of the New Orleans area, with some restoring/remediating their own homes. Administered questionnaire included information on respiratory health, smoking history, and pre- and post-Katrina work and occupation. Any time since Katrina spent in demolition, trash removal, landscape restoration, sewer line repair, or mold remediation ("dirty jobs") was taken as indicating exposure to flood-related contaminants. An interview question about transient fever and cough at the end of a workday was used as an indicator of possible hypersensitivity or toxic reaction. Multiple linear regression was used to relate percent predicted (%P) FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC to exposure, after adjusting for smoking category. Results: 74% of study participants reported time spent in at least one of the dirty jobs. The table shows that significant differences between exposed and nonexposed subjects were observed for %P FEV1 for current smokers and for %P FEV1/FVC for ex- and never smokers. 31% of study participants reported at least one episode of transient fever/cough since Katrina, and a significantly increased risk was observed with dirty jobs (RR =1.51, p = 0.007, CI: 1.10-2.09). This association was also observed in ex- and never smokers (RR = 1.78, p = 0.003, CI: 1.19-2.67), but not in current smokers (RR = 1.07, p=.80, CI: 0.64-1.7796). No significant differences in %P FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC were observed between subjects with and without fever/cough. Conclusions: Baseline symptoms and lung function data may be reflecting inhalant exposures to contaminants left in the wake of flooding from Hurricane Katrina. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Bacteria Cytotoxins Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances Hypersensitivity Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Microbiology Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Public Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Smokers Surveys And Questionnaires Tobacco Products Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Allergens Bacterial-dusts Bacteriology Biological-effects Biological-monitoring Breathing Cytotoxic-effects Diseases Dust-analysis Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Dust-measurement Dust-particles Dust-sampling Dusts Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Environmental-factors Environmental-hazards Environmental-pollution Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Fumes Inhalation-studies Lung-burden Lung-disease Lung-disorders Lung-function Lung-irritants Microscopic-analysis Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Occupational-respiratory-disease Particle-aerodynamics Particulate-dust Particulates Public-health Pulmonary-congestion Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Quantitative-analysis Questionnaires Respirable-dust Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-infections Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-analysis Risk-factors Smoking Spirometry Statistical-analysis Tobacco Toxic-effects Work-areas Work-environment Work-operations Work-performance Worker-health Workplace-monitoring Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  181
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037201
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2010 May; 181(Meeting Abstracts):A4701
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Services
• Performing Organization:
  Tulane University of Louisiana
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Supplement:
  Meeting Abstracts
• End Date:
  20120630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8944e5b855439567f83d48802399017cbdfcbe9e61aee0f4b49b146a4309662d6642cfe9370e3f6b0da26a39319109b28973929681c7a6da0640b3f999a3177e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188331/cdc_188331_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 19.47 KB ]