Respiratory symptoms and lung function in workers in heavy and highway construction: a cross-sectional study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gaitam RR Jr. ; Littman AB ; Miracle-McMahill H ; Oakes JM ; Oliver LC
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Occupational exposures for workers in heavy and highway (HH) construction include cement-containing dusts and diesel exhaust (DE). To investigate possible health effects, respiratory symptoms and lung function were examined in laborers, tunnel workers (TW), and operating engineers (OE) in HH and tunnel construction. The principal outcome of interest was airways disease. METHODS: Subjects were recruited through their unions. Medical and occupational histories and flow-volume loops were obtained. Based on self-report, asthma and chronic bronchitis were categorized as (1) physician-diagnosed or (2) for asthma, undiagnosed likely, and (3) for chronic bronchitis, symptomatic. Trade and time in the union were used as surrogates of exposure. Prevalence of asthma and chronic bronchitis, lung function outcome, and relationships with exposure variables were examined. RESULTS: Data were obtained on 389 workers: 186 laborers, 45 TWs, and 158 OEs. Prevalence of asthma was 13 and 11.4% for laborers (including TW) and OEs, respectively, and of symptomatic chronic bronchitis, 6.5 and 1.9%, respectively. Odds ratios (OR) for undiagnosed asthma likely were significantly elevated in TWs compared to OEs, and marginally elevated for chronic bronchitis. Inverse relationships were observed between time in the union, and risk for asthma and chronic bronchitis. Asthma (physician-diagnosed or undiagnosed likely) predicted lower FEV(1). Current cigarette use was associated with chronic bronchitis but not asthma. CONCLUSIONS: TWs, laborers, and OEs in HH construction are at increased risk for asthma. TWs also appear to be at increased risk for chronic bronchitis. Our data suggest that symptomatic workers are self-selecting out of their trade. Asthma was associated with lower lung function in those affected. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Diagnosis Dust Engineering Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Safety Silicon Dioxide Smokers Surveys And Questionnaires Tobacco Products Vehicle Emissions

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• Keywords:
  Airway-resistance Asthma Author Keywords: Heavy And Highway Construction Breathing Bronchial-asthma Cements Cigarette-smoking Clinical-diagnosis Construction Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Diesel-exhausts Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Dusts Employee-exposure Etiology Exposure-assessment Health-surveys Healthy Worker Effect Humans Laborers Lung-disease Lung-disorders Lung-function Operating Engineers Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-analysis Road-construction Silica-dusts Smoking Statistical-analysis Tunnel-workers Tunneling Tunnel Workers Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  73-86
• Volume:
  40
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041083
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2001 Jul; 40(1):73-86
• Contact Point Address:
  L. Christine Oliver, MD, MS, Occupational Health Institute, 1101 Beacon Street, Four West, Brookline, MA 02446
• Email:
  coliver@xensei.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19950701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20010630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:448d92f02eb2fc15269b4a8ec7f2829088bc039af39fb6e3a8dff639cec6e9c79b8abb2b25dc4d7439a9f0f0f7ba7d6ac8d8d3ca0473e77a5b8b9600d2f26c2a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193736/cdc_193736_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 185.17 KB ]