Respiratory function in chilli grinders.

The active principle of chilli is capsaicin which when inhaled induces cough and transient increase in airway resistance through selective stimulation of sensory nerves in the airway. The present study was aimed at determining whether workers exposed to chilli dust showed ventilatory changes as in the pharmacological model. Twenty-five men with an average age of 28.5 years employed in five chilli grinding factories in Sri Lanka for an average of 6.6 years (range 3 months to 20 years) were clinically examined. Their ventilatory measurements were recorded before and after a Monday workshift. A control group was similarly examined. Dust levels in the respective chilli grinding factories were monitored. Fifteen men (60 per cent) had initial symptoms including cough on recruitment, but these passed off in 3 weeks to 6 months. There was no statistically significant across-shift change in ventilatory indices in chilli grinders when compared to the controls, nor was there a significant difference in the pre-shift measurements in the two groups. It is concluded that the airway resistance that occurs in the pharmacological model is too fleeting, if present in chilli grinders, to be recorded under ordinary conditions.

A survey of the thermal environment, sound and illuminance in an iron and a steel foundry and related health effects.

The thermal environment and the workers' physiological response to heat were monitored throughout the casting process in two foundries. Of the 86 thermal observations in the iron foundry, 25 (29%) exceeded the heat stress index set by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advisory committee in 1974. In the steel foundry during a steel casting the environmental thermal measurements remained above the standard. The workers' physiological indices of heat strain as measured by pulse rate and body temperature rarely showed excursions above limits recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) in 1969. The environmental noise levels exceeded the standard in certain foundry operations. A significant hearing threshold shift was observed at 4 kHz among the foundry workers when compared with non-exposed controls. The illuminance in both foundries was below values recommended by the illuminating Engineering Society, in 1977. The prevalence of lens and corneal opacities among workers in the iron foundry was 32.5% and 30.0% respectively, which was significantly higher than that of the workers in the steel foundry and non-exposed controls.