Are atopic symptoms associated with increased airway responsiveness in coal miners

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniloff E ; Mannino D ; Petsonk E ; Townsend M
• Description:
  Nonspecific airway hyperresponsiveness is a central feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has been associated with atopy in the presence of environmental exposures such as smoking. Coal miners may develop emphysema and lung function decrements related to their dust exposure. To investigate the roles of airway responsiveness and atopy in these effects, we evaluated the relationships among smoking, a history of hay fever or seasonal rhinitis, and airway responsiveness (AR) in a group of underground bituminous coal miners and nonmining controls. All subjects had a normal baseline percent predicted FEV1. Increased airway responsiveness was defined as a 15% or greater decrease in FEV1 following methacholine inhalation. 85 miners (45%) and 99 controls (46%) were current smokers, 59 miners (31%) and 55 controls (26%) were lifetime nonsmokers; former smokers were excluded from further analysis. Overall, 25% of 144 miners included in this analysis had increased AR, as opposed to 29% of 155 controls. Thirty-seven percent of both miners and controls had a history of seasonal rhinitis. Significantly fewer miners (15%) had a history of hay fever compared to controls (25%, p < 0.05). Figure 1 shows the prevalence of increased airway responsiveness in miners and controls in association with hay fever. In both smoking and nonsmoking miners the presence of a hay fever history was significantly (p < 0. 05) associated with a higher prevalence of increased AR. Little effect was seen in smoking (p = 0.827) and nonsmoking (p = 0.940) controls. Figure 2 shows a similar higher prevalence of increased AR associated with symptoms of seasonal rhinitis in mining group. This was significant p < 0.01) only in the smoking miners. No effect was noted in the controls. These data suggest that the association of a history of hay fever or seasonal rhinitis symptoms with increased airway responsiveness may be more common in coal mining, compared to non-dusty occupations. Although the implication of these data are unclear, further study of miners with a history of hay fever or seasonal rhinitis is warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Lung Mining Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Smokers Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Cigarette Smoking Coal Miners Coal Mines Coal Mining COPD Humans Lung Function Miners Mining Industry Respiratory System Disorders Smoking Underground Miners Underground Mines Underground Mining

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• ISBN:
  9780873350983
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania ; 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
• Pages in Document:
  145-146
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049422
• Citation:
  Respirable dust in the mineral industries, proceedings of the 3rd symposium on respirable dust in the mineral industries, October 17-19, 1990, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Frantz RL, Ramani RV, eds. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 1991 Jan; :145-146
• Contact Point Address:
  D. Mannino, Sect. of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, West Virginia University
• Editor(s):
  Frantz RL; Ramani RV
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Performing Organization:
  West Virginia University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Respirable dust in the mineral industries, proceedings of the 3rd symposium on respirable dust in the mineral industries, October 17-19, 1990, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6874dfb45ea2ef5b58db22fc0b5072693b34f2837eea480439d1d9e2e4b9d7660469a44c3e377fae265db586ce4844c8a2a12a36cc0f46c3de9641de6f60748e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203870/cdc_203870_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.36 MB ]