Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory function defects among Para rubber wood sawmill workers in the south of Thailand

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to assess the associations between respiratory symptoms and pulmonary defects of Para rubber sawmill workers in the South of Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 687 workers in Para rubber wood sawmills and a subset of sawmill workers from four factories participated in spirometric measurements and personal dust samplings. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore risk factors pulmonary impairment. The exposed workers had higher respirable wood dust exposure (0.902 mg/m3) compared with the unexposed groups (0.185 mg/m3). The exposed group had significantly higher prevalence than the unexposed group for chest tightness (odds ratio (OR) = 2.79) and shortness of breath (OR = 2.27). The ventilatory function values (FEV1 and FVC) were lower for the exposed group compared with the unexposed group (2.41 vs 2.55 L/s and 2.91 vs 3.01 L/s, respectively). The results suggest that sawmill factories using Para rubber tree wood should implement appropriate exposure control measures to reduce wood dust exposure to protect their employees.