Respiratory symptoms and lung's functional impairments associated with occupational exposure to poultry house pollutants.

Respiratory symptoms and lung's functional impairments associated with occupational exposure to poultry house pollutants. Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2019 Aug 20;:1-18 Authors: Ebrahimi A, Soleimani E, Neghab M Abstract The aim was to assess respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function test (PFT) in poultry workers. Eighty-nine poultry workers and 100 unexposed referent employees were studied. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was assessed using the European standardized respiratory symptom questionnaire. Airborne concentrations of total and repairable dusts exceeded the threshold limit values. Gram-positive cocci and Cladosporium were the dominant genera of bacteria and fungi, respectively.‏ The prevalence of respiratory symptoms were significantly higher in the exposed subjects. Mean baseline values of forced expiratory volume (FEV1), FEV1 to forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio (FEV1/FVC), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were significantly lower in the exposed group. Significant cross-shift decrements were noted in vital capacity (VC), FVC, FEV1, PEF, and FEV1/FVC of the exposed subjects. Dominant pattern of lung function abnormality was found to be obstructive.‏ Exposure to poultry pollutants may result in significant increase in prevalence of respiratory symptoms as well as both acute reversible and chronic irreversible decrements in the PFT. PMID: 31429676 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Int J Occup Saf Ergon Source Type: research