Abstract:
Occupational asthma (OA) is a major
cause of respiratory morbidity and the most common
cause of non‐acute lung disease in the industrialized
world. The incidence of OA in developed country
is increasing, while in developing countries is still
unknown. Automobile industry is a place where
workers are exposed to harmful chemicals and toxic
substances. In automobile industry work floor assembly
lines chassis move continuously and pass by “Robot
Painter” that spray them and workers assemble the
chassis. The paint that is used contains isocyanate
(low‐molecular‐weight compound) which is most common
agent responsible for OA. Objective: The present
study is undertaken to assess respiratory morbidity
of paint workers in terms of obstructive and restrictive
lung pattern and to study relationship between
duration of exposure and respiratory morbidity.
Materials and Methods: This cross‐sectional study
included 70 car spray paint workers, who are working
for 1-6 years in an automobile industry. A pre‐structured
questionnaire was used to record the clinical,
sociodemographic profile, and clinical examination.
Pulmonary function parameters were recorded by
a computerized spirometer‐Medspiror during their
working hours. An independent t test and a correlation
test were applied. Results: Sixty‐one workers had
normal lung functions. The nine isocyanate‐exposed
workers showed a significant reduction in FEV1/FVC
(P < 0.05) suggestive of obstructive lung pattern.
There is a strong correlation between duration of
exposure and pulmonary functions (P value = 0.002).
Conclusion: Decreased pulmonary function tests
(PFT) in spray painters were related to duration of
exposure to isocyanate.
