Effect of dust exposure and nitrogen oxides on lung function parameters of German coalminers: a longitudinal study applying GEE regression 1974–1998

Abstract

The effect of dust exposure on lung function described in older British and American coal miner studies was not confirmed. This can be explained partly by differences in methods (here: longitudinal studies, no prior exposure), but also by lower dust levels. NO (x) exposures showed no relevant influence on lung function-a result confirming findings from British coal mining.

A systematic review of occupational exposure to coal dust and the risk of interstitial lung diseases

“…The same was true for the studies by Jacobsen et al [ 17 ] and Hurley et al [ 18 ]. Furthermore, a study by Morfeld et al [ 25 ] has been excluded as a subset of the study population was already included in [ 21 ].…”

The Cytotoxic and Haematological Effect of Coal Dust to Underground Miners

“…Dust exposure at the workplace can be many times higher. The average cumulative exposure to respirable coalmine dust in Great Britain was 174 gh/m 3 , which corresponds to an average concentration of more than 3 mg/m 3 over 30 years underground [7].…”

“…Accordingly, dust-related health effects have been verified, such as detrimental influences on lung function and the development of chronic bronchitis. Compared to environmental concentrations, dust exposure at the workplace can be many times higher, and occupational threshold values are reviewed scientifically on a permanent basis [7]. Inhalation of coal mine dust can lead to the development of several diseases including coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), bronchitis, emphysema, Caplan syndrome, and silicosis [8,9].…”

Stickstoffdioxid [MAK Value Documentation in German language, 2010]

“…Unter Verwendung des GEE (general estimation equation)-RegressionsModells wurden allein aufgrund der Staubexposition keine Effekte auf die untersuchten Lungenfunktionsparameter beobachtet. Bezogen auf die NO X -Konzentrationen (NO+NO 2 ) traten geringe, aber statistisch nicht signifikante Effekte auf die gemessenen Lungenfunktionsparameter auf (Dahmann et al 2009;Morfeld et al 2010 (Posin et al 1978) und bei Mäusen beobachtet wurden. Im Blut war auch, wieder ab der niedrigen Konzentration und meist bei beiden Geschlechtern, die Leukozytenzahl (polymorphkernige Leukozyten, Lymphozyten, Monozyten und Eosinophile) verringert.…”