Iron miners ? A ten year follow-up

Abstract

1167 workers of Lorraine (France) iron mines, a random sample of 5600 workers aged 35 to 55 years, at work in 1975 constituted the initial cohort that was examined twice at 5-year intervals after the first examination. A questionnaire on respiratory symptoms and smoking habits (MRC questionnaire) plus questions on the work history of each participant was completed, vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0), residual volume (RV) and fractional uptake of CO (FuCO) were measured at the first examination and repeated five and ten years later. At the end of the ten year follow-up, 522 subjects were re-examined, 186 were lost to follow-up, 328 answered a mail questionnaire, and 111 had died. The total number of deaths was not different from that of the general population, but for lung cancer the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was significantly increased (SMR = 3.7). For the miners re-examined, frequency of bronchitis and decrease of functional tests were more related to age and smoking habits than to occupation.

Occupational Airways Disease from Chronic Low Level Exposure to Mineral Dusts, Organic Dusts, and Mixed Exposures: Occupational Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…Wollastonite is a fibrous monocalcium silicate mineral. In contrast, in a selected group of iron miners with normal chest radiographs, 30 generally negative associations between underground mining exposures and lung function were reported. However, because no comparison population was studied, the effect of exposure could only be evaluated by comparing underground miners to surface miners.…”

Influence of iron (56Fe2O3 or 54Fe2O3) in the upregulation of cytochrome P4501A1 by benzo[a]pyrene in the respiratory tract of Sprague‐Dawley rats

“…In an interesting series of epidemiological studies, PAHs coated onto iron oxides were found to constitute one of the main suspected factors of the excessive mortality by lung cancer among iron-ore miners (Mur et al, 1987;Pham et al, 1992;Chau et al, 1993). In vivo experiments wherein benzo [a]pyrene (BaP), as a prototypical member of PAHs, was coated onto haematite (Fe 2 O 3 ), as iron oxide particles commonly encountered in occupational settings, have been used extensively to investigate the role of iron in lung pathogenesis (for a review and references, see Wolterbeek et al, 1995).…”

The traditional way in preventing and overcoming health problems among sulfur miners in the craters of Ijen

“…Diseases resulting from sulphur mining activities are common such as respiratory problems [1], tooth erosion [2], and also stress markers [3]. Long-term exposure to sulphate particles can cause respiratory diseases [4], [5] and even premature death.…”