Removal Statement

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background The production of carbon black (CB) has been considered as one of the top 50 industrial chemicals manufactured worldwide. Working in CB manufacturing process might pose a cardiovascular risk. This study was conducted to estimate 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risks among workers in CB manufacturing process. Methods A cross-sectional comparative approach was adopted. Workers at a CB factory in Alexandria were included (n = 271). Participants were distributed into two groups: exposed (n = 154) and unexposed (n = 117). All participants were subjected to an interview questionnaire and blood pressure, anthropometric, and lipid profile measurements. The Framingham risk score (FRS) was calculated for every participant to assess 10-year CHD . Descriptive and analytic statistics were done. Results The mean diastolic blood pressure and mean body mass index were significantly higher among exposed workers (81.49 ± 9.75 mmHg and 32.07 ± 5.81 kg/m2, respectively) than those among unexposed workers (77.86 ± 9.45 mmHg and 29.68 ± 4.94 kg/m2, respectively) (p < 0.01). The mean total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL levels were significantly higher among exposed workers (212.44 ± 40.48 mg/dl, 144.25 ± 74.66 mg/dl, and 146.12 ± 34.9 mg/dl, respectively) than those among unexposed workers (199.94 ± 47.33 mg/dl, 114.02 ± 62.94 mg/dl, and 134.12 ± 30.4 mg/dl, respectively) (p < 0.01); while the protective HDL level was significantly lower among exposed workers (41.39 ± 8.76 mg/dl) compared with unexposed workers (43.6 ± 9.08 mg/dl) (p = 0.04). Ten-year CHD risk percentage was significantly higher among exposed workers (8.62 ± 7.79) compared with unexposed workers (5.34 ± 6.66) (p < 0.001). The percentage of workers who had intermediate-to-high 10-year CHD risk was significantly higher among exposed workers. Conclusions Working at CB manufacturing process could carry an increased 10-year CHD risk. The study recommends that strategies for reduction of CHD risk focus on active screening of workers by utilizing a simple tool (FRS) to monitor risk over time, motivate the workers toward healthy behaviors, and treat hypertension and dyslipidemia, for primary prevention of CHD.