VENTILATORY FUNCTION IN BRASS WORKERS OF GADALADENIYA, SRI-LANKA

A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the respiratory haz ards of brass workers. The study group was selected randomly. The cont rol group was selected from the general population matched for age by cluster sampling. There was a total of 154 pairs for the final analysi s. A questionnaire was administered to determine the prevalence of res piratory symptoms. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volu me in the first second (FEV10), forced expiratory flow rate in the mid 50% of the FVC(FEF25%-75%) and peak expiratory flow rate(PEFR) were m easured. Chest radiography was performed on those with 5 or more years of service. Cough, phlegm, chronic bronchitis and dyspnoea were signi ficantly higher among brass workers. The ventilatory capacity was sign ificantly lower in all the indicators except FVC. Smoking had no signi ficant effect and a dose response relationship could not be demonstrat ed after inclusion of age in the regression model. Five point five per cent had evidence of septal lines while 6.4% had emphysema.