Occupational ocular health problems among marble workers at Shaq El Tho’ban industrial area in Egypt

Abstract

Eye health of the working population is an essential condition for productivity. Marble industry is processed at large scale at Shaq El Tho’ban area where much dust, crushed pieces of stone, and fluctuating temperatures are endangering employees’ health generally and eye health specifically. The objectives of this study were assessing the prevalence of the most common ocular health problems associated with marble industry and investigating the impact of the working environment and occupational risk factors on the oculo-visual status of marble workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 workers, working at Shaq El Tho’ban area in Egypt during the period from August 2020 to September 2021, using a semi-structured questionnaire and eye examination comprised of full ocular history, visual acuity testing (unaided/aided), slit lamp examination, ophthalmoscopy, and Schirmer’s type I and tear break up time tests. The current study showed that gritty sensation (65.2%) and eye dryness (51.2%) were the commonest symptoms complained. By examination, conjunctival hyperemia (59.6%) was the most prevalent finding. By performing dry eye tests, dry eye was diagnosed in 60.4% and 51.2% of workers by Schirmer’s test and tear break up time test respectively. The study’s results indicated that age, working category, smoking, and diabetes had significant impact on development of ocular symptoms, while working duration, diabetes, smoking, ocular symptoms, and ocular foreign body had significant impact on development of dry eye disease. Implementation of engineering control measures, proper designing, and supply of eye PPE together with adequate health education to all workers about occupational health risks and preventive measures are recommended.

A Cross-Sectional Study on Marble Workers: Occupational Eye Health Problems and Risk Factors

“…However, there were no findings in this study of injuries similar to globe rupture, lamellar laceration, or hyphema in the anterior segment. Khorshed et al reported that 47.6% of the workers in their study had experienced an ocular foreign body, and 10.8% had suffered an eye injury (25). In a study by Ezisi al., the general prevalence of work-related eye injuries was determined to be 32.0%, and of those working in stone quarries, there was a higher rate in stone processing workers (26).…”

“…Marble workers and occupational eye health İstanbul Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi • J Ist Faculty Med Of the 126 workers included in the current study, ocular disease was determined in 32 (25.4%), refraction error was recorded in 19 (15.1%), pterygium was recorded in 11 (8.7%), and amblyopia was recorded in 2 (1.6%) as a result of the examinations. In a recent study in Egypt, conjunctival hyperemia was seen most in the eye examinations in 59.6% of workers, and in another study that investigated ocular problems in stone quarry workers, pterygium was determined at the high rate of 22.0% (25,32). Similarly, in another study, pterygium, cataract, refraction error, pinguecula, and conjunctival hyperemia were predominant (19,26).…”

“…The development of pterygium can be caused by exposure to dust, smoke, and ultraviolet light while working outside (33). There are studies in literature that have reported that long-term exposure to marble dust in the process of producing marble in quarries causes ocular irritation and subsequent conjunctival hyperemia and conjunctivitis (25,34).…”

Air pollution and coronary heart disease–related hospital visits in Beijing, China: time-series analysis using a generalized additive model

“…Air pollutants cause various kinds of harm to the human body (Khorshed et al 2021). Many studies have investigated the human response to exposure to air pollution.…”