Research progress of occupational hazards in plywood manufacturing / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Occupational disease hazards in plywood manufacturing mainly include wood dust, formaldehyde, phenol, ammonia, noise, terpene, microorganisms, etc. The exposure is complex with multiple factors accompanied or coexisted. In the production process, these factors are exceeded, and mass occupational disease hazard events occurred among workers. Exposure to wood dust, formaldehyde, terpene, etc., put workers at increased risk of cancer. This article provides a review of this issue in order to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of occupational disease hazards in plywood manufacturing.

A comparative study of lung function among sawmills workers in central India

Background: Many of the studies have put forth the hypothesis that sawdust deteriorates lung function, increases the incidence and prevalence of diseases of the respiratory system, and can predispose to cancer and deaths. Deterioration of lung function can be tested by pulmonary function tests. Several studies have shown respiratory disorders in sawmill workers, including the reduction of pulmonary function tests, but there is a paucity of such studies in Central India; hence, in this study, we tried to study comparative lung function among sawmill workers. Objective: The objective of this study was as follows: (i) To study the lung function of workers in sawmill industry, (ii) comparative assessment of lung function with those of controls, and (iii) to study the effect of occupational exposure to wood dust. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in the sawmills in Nagpur city from September 2013 to December 2015. Sawmill workers were the study group and local government workers as comparison group. Each worker was examined in a separate room away from the workplace. Spirometry was done to assess the lung function using the UK’s Compact Vitalograph. Subjects in the control group were also examined with the spirometry. The lung function values of sawmill workers compared with the control and the difference in them was assessed both numerically and statistically. Results: Mean of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow25–75, and peak expiratory flow rate was significantly decreased among sawmill workers as compared to control group (P < 0.05), but FEV1/FVC ratio was significantly elevated among sawmill workers (P < 0.05). Conclusion: We have concluded that sawmill workers suffered from obstructive or restrictive type of pulmonary disorder, but the predominant type was restrictive lung disease.

The relationship between occupational wood dust exposure and nasal cancer / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Nasal cancer has not been included in the current list of legal occupational diseases in China. There is also a lack of systematic and in-depth study on the relationship between nasal cancer and occupational exposure factors in China. In September 2018, the department for work and pensions of UK released the latest edition of the "List of diseases covered by industrial injuries disablement benefit", which lists nasal cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma associated with wood dust exposure on the UK's occupational disease list. In order to better protect the health of workers, the relationship between occupational wood dust exposure and nasal cancer is reviewed, which provides a reference for further revision and improvement of occupational disease catalogue.

The prevalence of occupational asthma and rhinitis among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria

Wood dusts are known to cause respiratory disorders like rhinitis and asthma. This study was therefore done to determine the magnitude of the problem among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria exposed to high level of wood dust.Five hundred and ninety one woodworkers were selected using a stratified random sampling. The prevalence of woodworkrelated rhinitis and asthma were then observed in the study population. Also the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of each woodworker was obtained. The prevalence of occupational rhinitis was 78%, while that of asthma was 6.5%. As period of woodwork increased the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma increased (rhinitis: χ2 trend = 53.015, df = 1, P = 0.000). For asthma, χ2 trend =19.721, df = 1, P = 0.000). Also the PEFR significantly became low with increasing years of exposure to woodwork (χ2 trend = 75.965, df = 1, P= 0.000). In conclusion the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma in woodworkers was high and significantly increased with years of working as a woodworker