Lung Function in Workers at Small Foundries / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated lung function in workers exposed to dusts, fumes and noxious gases at small foundries. METHODS: Lung function was measured in 148 male workers from 12 small foundries and 202 unexposed male workers. Pulmonary function tests performed included: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), percent of FEV1/FVC (FEV1/FVC%), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and forced expiratory flow at 25, 50, and 75% of expired FVC (FEF25, 50, 75). RESULTS: Mean values of all ventilatory indices except FEF25 of foundry workers were significantly lower than those of controls. Specifically, following stratification by smoking habits, all ventilatory indices except FEF25 of foundry workers were significantly lower than those of controls who smoked; however, there were no significant differences observed in any ventilatory indices between nonsmoking exposed workers and controls. The results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated work duration as a significant predictor of a decrease in FVC%. CONCLUSIONS: This research indicates that combined occupational exposure to dust, fumes, and gases in small foundries is associated with a reduction in lung function. Smoking may also contribute to respiratory abnormalities. These results suggested that foundry workers should be required to undergo periodic lung function tests and-in addition to not smoking, efficient use of personal protection equipment while at work is recommended.

Understanding the Occurrence of Lung Cancer in Foundry Workers through Health Insurance Data / 예방의학회지

CONCLUSIONS: To investigate the difference in the occurrence of lung cancer between foundry workers and non-foundry workers by comparing the number of workers diagnosed with lung cancer through health insurance data. METHODS: The study population was comprised of 28,884 workers who had undergone at least one general or special medical examination between January 1995 and December 1997 at the occupational health center. All of the subjects had health insurance during this period. We combined the medical examination data with the health insurance data to compare the number of foundry workers diagnosed with lung cancer and the number of non-foundry workers diagnosed with lung cancer. RESULTS: Seven workers were diagnosed with lung cancer among the 1,591 foundry workers, compared to twelve workers among the 27,293 non-foundry workers (odds ratio: 10.04, 95% confidence interval: 3.95-25.55). The seven foundry workers diagnosed with lung cancer were all exposed to dust, and six out these seven workers were engaged in finishing or shake-out processes. CONCLUSIONS: Although the information for this study was obtained from health insurance data, which has limitations such as accuracy and completeness, the number of foundry workers diagnosed with lung cancer was significantly higher than that of non-foundry workers. Therefore, a well-designed cohort study should be followed to confirm the higher lung cancer rates in foundry workers.