Respiratory symptoms, immunological responses, and aeroallergen concentrations at a sawmill.

Abstract

After identification of a case of extrinsic allergic alveolitis due to exposure to wood dust at a sawmill, all employees at the sawmill where he worked were studied with an occupational, environmental, and symptom questionnaire, spirometry, skin prick tests, and serum specific IgG measurements. Ninety five of current and 14 of 17 ex-sawmill workers were studied. As a basis for comparison, a group of 58 workers from a nearby light engineering factory were also studied. Few women (6) were employed and they were excluded from the analysis. Workers at the sawmill were stratified into high and low exposure groups depending on their place of work. This division was supported both by their subjective assessment of the dustiness of their environment and the results of personal dust samples. There were no significant differences between the three groups in age, height, smoking habits, exposure to other causes of extrinsic allergic alveolitis, forced expiratory volume in one second, forced vital capacity, atopic state, or cutaneous reactivity to moulds. In the high exposure group the prevalence of work related cough and nasal and eye symptoms was higher than in the low exposure and comparison groups. The prevalence of work related wheeze was similar in both the high exposure and comparison groups, but was lower in the low exposure group. The prevalences of chronic bronchitis and symptomatic bronchial hyper-reactivity were similar in the high and low exposure groups but were lower in the comparison group. Serum concentrations of specific IgG against extracts of sawdust and Trichoderma koningii were significantly higher in the high exposure group than in the other two groups. The prevalence of symptoms suggestive of extrinsic allergic alveolitis was 4 4% in the high exposure group, greater than in the low exposure group (0%), and the comparison group

Influence of hay and animal feed exposure on respiratory status: a longitudinal study

“…An excess of respiratory symptoms related to chronic bronchitis has been already found in dairy farmers from the same province [15,16] and other agricultural settings (poultry workers [4,5], pig farmers [2,3], flower cultivators [28], grain silo workers [17] and sawmill or wood workers [29]). Conversely, the accelerated decline in FEV1/FVC that we observed over a long follow-up period has rarely been reported, and then was not reproducible within other agricultural sectors [14].…”

Occupational exposure to wood dust and health effects on the respiratory system in a minor industrial estate in Bursa/Turkey

“…C -Total dust concentration, W 1 -Empty filter weight before dust collection process (mg), W 2 -Filter weight after dust collection process (mg), B 1 -Average Empty filter weight (mg), studies on workers in furniture manufacturing sector evidenced that upper and lower respiratory system symptoms increased in people exposed to wood dust [3,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Also, these symptoms are related to the exposure levels and seen frequently in cases of exposures higher than 5 mg/m 3 [3,17].…”

Longitudinal respiratory health study of the wood processing industry

“…There have been some reports, however, of ''wood dust'' exposures associated with an airspace or alveolar reaction, wherein the lungs' volume is reduced while the speed of exhalation is preserved, or even increased [Vedal et al, 1986;Rastogi et al, 1989;Dahlqvist and Ulfvarson, 1994;Halpin et al, 1994], with corresponding functional effects of reduced FVC and normal or increased FEV 1 /FVC ratio that is, ''restriction.'' This pathophysiologic response is seen in such conditions as farmer's lung and pigeon breeder's diseases, and it represents a form of allergy that is rare compared to rhinitis or asthma.…”