RESUMO
An assessment of human pulmonary effects from long-term, low-level exposure to methyl isocyanate (MIC) has been undertaken. Serial pulmonary function data, cigarette smoking histories, and other information were available for over 400 workers from a large chemical facility. In addition, industrial-hygiene measurements had been made and were used to classify jobs according to level of MIC exposure. In some instances, work records were incomplete and workers' predominant job and extent of inferred exposures were therefore based on the ratings of their supervisors and coworkers. The availability of these data allowed us to evaluate the frequency of pulmonary impairment in workers according to the assumed four levels of MIC exposure. No specific or consistent pulmonary impairment was evident. Long-term, low-level exposure to MIC at the levels existing at this particular facility could not be shown to be producing detectable effects on lung function.
Assuntos
Poluentes Ocupacionais do Ar/efeitos adversos , Isocianatos/efeitos adversos , Pulmão/efeitos dos fármacos , Exposição Ocupacional/efeitos adversos , Exposição Ocupacional/estatística & dados numéricos , Poluentes Ocupacionais do Ar/análise , Obstrução das Vias Respiratórias/induzido quimicamente , Obstrução das Vias Respiratórias/epidemiologia , Análise de Variância , Indústria Química , Volume Expiratório Forçado/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , Isocianatos/análise , Estudos Longitudinais , Exposição Ocupacional/classificação , Fumar/efeitos adversos , Fumar/epidemiologia , Fatores de Tempo , Capacidade Vital/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
A cohort of 101 male carbaryl production workers with at least 1 yr experience in the carbaryl area was selected from employment records. Of these individuals, 47 provided satifactory semen samples for analysis; 36 of the 47 provided blood for hormone assay. There were no major age or employment-status differences between those who agreed to participate and those who did not. In the absence of sufficiently detailed industrial hygiene exposure data, a subjective exposure classification was developed. No apparent relationships were found between sperm count and exposure category or years worked in classifications based on carbaryl exposure. Also, no relationship was found between fathering children and exposure to carbaryl. When the sperm-count distribution of the carbaryl-exposed workers was compared with a distribution of sperm counts representing a nonexposed (control) population, no overall differences were observed that could be related to carbaryl exposure. There was a small excess in the number of sperm counts less than 20 million per milliliter among the carbaryl-exposed men, but the excess was not significant at alpha = 0.05.
