DECREMENTS IN SPIROMETRY VALUES ASSOCIATED WITH CHLORINE GASSING EVENTS AND PULP-MILL WORK

In a previous study of older pulp and paper workers in Berlin, New Ham pshire, decrements in spirometry results associated with accidental ex posures to high levels of irritant gases depended on cumulative levels of pulp mill exposure and cigarette smoking. Many of those subjects w ere older and retired. A new study was initiated to assess whether gas sing events were a problem among current workers. Three hundred white male pulp and paper workers from the mill in Berlin, New Hampshire, we re surveyed in 1992. Testing included spirometry and questionnaires. T he mean age was 40.4 yr, and the mean tenure with the company was 18.5 yr. A total of 105 of the 300 subjects (35%) reported ever having an episode of high exposure to chlorine gases (i.e., being gassed). The p ercentage gassed was 51% for pulp mill workers and only 13% for other employees. For subjects with no more than 26 pack-years of cigarette s moking, obstruction (i.e., abnormally low FEV(1) and FEV(1)/FVC) was o bserved only among those with a history of gassing. Also, the combinat ion of high cigarette smoking (i.e., > 26 pack-years) and gassing had a greater than additive effect on obstruction. These findings suggest that additional controls are needed to minimize the number of gassing events in this and other chemical pulp mills.