Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
BMJ OPEN, cilt.15, sa.1, ss.102-214, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Objectives To assess the relation of exposure to cementdust and heavy metal (aluminium, cadmium and lead)exposures to pulmonary function among male cementplant workers. The study also aimed to evaluate dose–response relationships and prevalence and severityof respiratory symptoms among exposure categoriescompared with a control group.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Secondary-level occupational health clinic inAnkara, Türkiye.Participants 461 male non-smoking cement plantemployees were included in total. Participants werecategorised into packaging (n=101), milling (n=162) andoffice unexposed workers (n=198). Inclusion criteria weremore than 70% work history in the cement industry andexclusion of pre-existing respiratory disease and missingdata from the participants.Interventions Not applicable.Primary and secondary outcome measures Pulmonaryfunction tests (forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratoryvolume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC and peak expiratory flow(PEF)) and urinary, cadmium and blood lead concentrationswere measured. Lung function impairment was theprimary outcome measure; secondary outcomes includedmetal exposure—pulmonary measure correlations.Results Significant negative correlations existed betweenFEV1 and urine aluminium (r=−0.622, p<0.001), bloodcadmium (r=−0.430, p<0.001) and lead (r=−0.473,p<0.001). Adjusted generalised linear models showedmuch lower FVC, FEV1 and PEF in the high-exposuremilling group compared with controls (p<0.001).Workers with blood aluminium levels≥35 μg/L had lowerFVC (4.26 L), FEV1 (3.61 L) and PEF (7.07 L/min) thanthose with lowered levels (p<0.001). Dose-dependentpulmonary function loss with increased metal levels wasobserved.Conclusions Occupational cement dust and heavymetal exposure is closely linked to impaired pulmonaryfunction in cement plant employees, particularly thosewho work in higher exposure jobs. The implicationsare robust endorsement of targeted monitoring andpreventive interventions. Long-term longitudinal research
Objectives To assess the relation of exposure to cement dust and heavy metal (aluminium, cadmium and lead) exposures to pulmonary function among male cement plant workers. The study also aimed to evaluate dose–response relationships and prevalence and severity of respiratory symptoms among exposure categories compared with a control group.
Design Cross-sectional study.
Setting Secondary-level occupational health clinic in Ankara, Türkiye.
Participants 461 male non-smoking cement plant employees were included in total. Participants were categorised into packaging (n=101), milling (n=162) and office unexposed workers (n=198). Inclusion criteria were more than 70% work history in the cement industry and exclusion of pre-existing respiratory disease and missing data from the participants.
Interventions Not applicable.
Primary and secondary outcome measures Pulmonary function tests (forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC and peak expiratory flow (PEF)) and urinary, cadmium and blood lead concentrations were measured. Lung function impairment was the primary outcome measure; secondary outcomes included metal exposure—pulmonary measure correlations.
Results Significant negative correlations existed between FEV1 and urine aluminium (r=−0.622, p<0.001), blood cadmium (r=−0.430, p<0.001) and lead (r=−0.473, p<0.001). Adjusted generalised linear models showed much lower FVC, FEV1 and PEF in the high-exposure milling group compared with controls (p<0.001). Workers with blood aluminium levels≥35 µg/L had lower FVC (4.26 L), FEV1 (3.61 L) and PEF (7.07 L/min) than those with lowered levels (p<0.001). Dose-dependent pulmonary function loss with increased metal levels was observed.