Survey of the respiratory health of the workers of a talc producing factory.

Abstract

Objectives-To assess the effect of an occupational exposure to talc dust on respiratory health. The prevalence of dyspnoea also increased after adjustment for smoking categories and age in a logistic regression. The prevalence of small radiological opacities was significantly related to age and to the exposure after adjustment for age and smoking categories. The incidence of new opacities between the two radiographs (11 new opacities with a profusion higher than 01) was significantly related to smoking (10 out of 11 are smokers) but not to the exposure. Conclusion-This study shows an effect of high levels of talc dust both on functional variables and on the prevalence of small radiological images, but provides no clear evidence about the possible effect of present levels of exposure.

An epidemiological study of talc-related respiratory morbidity among employees of a rubber industry in Shiraz-Iran

“…Similar views have been expressed by some other investigators (Leophonte and Didier 1990;Wegman et al 1982). In Wild et al (1995Wild et al ( , 2002 cohort mortality study, a somewhat surprising result of the analysis was low risk of smoking. The authors maintained that this peculiar feature might be due to some misclassiWcation of smokers as information on smoking had often been obtained from relatives or colleagues of subjects.…”

“…However, no signiWcant diVerence was noted in FEV 1 /FVC and FEV 1 / VC ratios. This observation may indicate that occupational inhalation exposure to talc dust is likely to induce "minor degree of restrictive ventilatory impairment" (Kumar et al 1997;Wild et al 2002) and talc dust is a Wbrogenic agent (Wild et al 1995(Wild et al , 2002.…”

“…Conversely, in two studies conducted by Wild et al (1995Wild et al ( , 2002 the authors have indicated that talc dust, at high concentration, is Wbrogenic and causes a restrictive syndrome rather than an obstructive syndrome. Similar views have been expressed by some other investigators (Leophonte and Didier 1990;Wegman et al 1982).…”

Effects of talc dust on respiratory health: results of a longitudinal survey of 378 French and Austrian talc workers

“…Prior to 1990 the mean of the 41 available measurements was 5.1 mg/m 3 and the corresponding line in the JEM was set to 5 mg/m 3 . Earlier historical semi-quantitative exposure estimates had been obtained in the late 1980s for the French site for use in the initial cross-sectional study based on the qualitative descriptions of the workplaces, the processes and how they changed by former workers in the French site (see Wild et al 7 for more details). For example, for the electricians, no evolution in their jobs was described so the earliest measured levels were assumed to be representative of the time before the exposure was measured.…”

“…Moreover, increased mortality from non-malignant respiratory diseases has been observed in some talc-exposed populations1 2 but not in others 3 4. Furthermore, a deterioration in lung function and an increase in small radiological opacities have been shown in three small talc exposed populations 5 – 7. On the other hand, inhaled talc not containing asbestos or asbestiform fibres does not seem to be associated with any increased cancer risk8 as confirmed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer who, in February 2006, stated that inhaled talc is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.…”