RESPIRATORY-FUNCTION IN SHOE MANUFACTURING WORKERS

A study of respiratory findings was performed on 376 female workers em ployed in a shoe manufacturing plant. The mean age of the workers was 32 years and the mean duration of their employment was 12 years. These workers were predominantly nonsmokers. Acute and chronic respiratory symptoms were recorded for each worker, and lung function was measured before find after the work shift. Maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEF V) curves were performed on which forced vital capacity (FVC), 1-secon d forced expiratory volume (FEV(1)), and flow rates at 50% and the las t 25% (FEF(50), FEF(25)) were measured. Significantly higher prevalenc es of all chronic respiratory symptoms were recorded in exposed compar ed to control workers; in particular, chest tightness (exposed: 44.7%; control: 0%), dyspnea (exposed: 42.6%; control: 2.0%), and rhinitis ( exposed: 46.3%; control: 2.4%) were far more prevalent in workers than in controls. Among the shoe workers, there was also a high prevalence of acute symptoms that developed during the work shift, being most pr onounced for nose and throat irritation (61.4%). The prevalence of acu te and chronic respiratory symptoms increased with duration of employm ent. Statistically significant across-shift reductions were recorded f or all ventilation capacity tests for the group as a whole. In compari son to predicted, the measured ventilatory capacity parameters were si gnificantly lower for all workers (p < 0.01). Lung function abnormalit ies increased with duration of employment. Environmental measurements demonstrated that benzene, fur, and synthetic fibers were found at hig her than allowable maximal concentrations (Croatian standards). The da ta suggest that work in the shoe manufacturing industry may be respons ible for the development of acute and chronic respiratory impairment. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.