M. Dahlqvist et U. Ulfvarson, ACUTE EFFECTS ON FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN ONE SECOND AND LONGITUDINAL CHANGE IN PULMONARY-FUNCTION AMONG WOOD TRIMMERS, American journal of industrial medicine, 25(4), 1994, pp. 551-558
Wood trimmers are exposed to molds that periodically grow on timber, a
nd may develop acute as well as chronic pulmonary function impairment.
This study examined whether these acute changes in pulmonary function
are predictors for a longitudinal deterioration in pulmonary function
, beyond normal aging and exposure. Across-shift changes in pulmonary
function, measured during a working week, were evaluated in 15 wood tr
immers with a follow-up time of 27 months. Twenty-six sawmill workers,
employed at the same plants as the wood trimmers, served as control s
ubjects. The highest concentration of viable mold spores for the wood
trimmers was 10(6) colony-forming units (Cfu)/m3, i.e., several times
higher than the corresponding value for the sawmill workers. At the fo
llow-up, wood trimmers had a lower forced vital capacity (FVC) on aver
age, after adjustment for age and height, compared to the sawmill work
ers. In addition, a correlation was found between the across-week chan
ge in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and the decline in F
EV1 between the first and the second occasion, after adjusting for nor
mal aging in nonsmoking wood trimmers (r2 = 84%, p < 0.001). The resul
ts from the present study suggest that across-shift decrease in FEV1 (
measured during a working week) might serve as a guide to identify sub
jects being at risk for a further decrement in pulmonary function over
and above the effects of normal aging and exposure to mold spores in
the wood trimming department. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.