Accelerated annual decline in Fev1 among Norwegian aluminum workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bakke B ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Kongerud J ; Soyseth V
• Description:
  In a longitudinal study we have compared the annual decline in lung function between potroom operators in seven Norwegian aluminum plants (index group) and a reference group that comprises employees in a road construction company, a roller factory, and a rim factory. The index group and the reference group consisted of 4,774 and 537 employees, respectively. They were followed up annually using spirometry and a respiratory questionnaire. The index group differed from the reference group by having proportionately fewer females (20% versus 26%) and a lower mean age at inclusion (29.2 years, sd=11.6 versus 35.0 years, sd=12.4). The mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) at inclusion were greater for index participants, with values of FEV1=4.35 (sd=0.85) and FVC=5.28 (sd=0.98) L in the index group and FEV1=4.01 (sd=0.80) and FVC=5.03 (sd=0.97) L among the references. Current smokers accounted for approximately half of each group, with 2,196 (53 %) and 294 (56 %) in the index group and among the references, respectively. The subjects were followed-up for 10 years. The mean annual declines in FEV1 (dFEV1) and FVC (dFVC) by study group and smoking status. After controlling for height, gender, smoking habits and age at inclusion in linear mixed regression models, aluminum plant workers had an accelerated annual decline in FEV1 (20.2 ml/year, 95% CI: 6.5 to 33.8) but not FVC (-6.5 ml/year, 95% CI: -20.3 to 7.1). In conclusion, our data indicate that aluminum potroom workers had an increased risk of pulmonary obstructive disease compared to workers in otherwise comparable settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Compounds Lung Lung Diseases Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Men Metal Workers Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Smokers Women

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• Keywords:
  Airway-obstruction Aluminum-compounds Aluminum-industry Employee-exposure Humans Industrial-factory-workers Lung-disorders Lung-function Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-function-tests Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Smoking Spirometry Vital-capacity

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• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  189
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044511
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2014 May; 189(Meeting Abstracts):A5100
• Contact Point Address:
  V. Soyseth, Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, Norway
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aluminum (CAS RN 7429-90-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Supplement:
  Meeting Abstracts
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c5e0f69fa27b3278ba7219db125a9066b0f3f8f8d77b471428d5fb47578f99c89cd21c25e4de6bcec3ed6a7d62512fab0fc36dcaaf43ccb27d8a9927e5f2bd09
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200197/cdc_200197_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 19.93 KB ]