Screening for occupational health hazards in the rubber industry. Part II: health hazards in the curing department.

Abstract

Multiphasic health testing was provided to 744 rubber workers at a tire manufacturing plant. Sixty-two white males from this population had worked longest in the curing department. Personal exposure to respirable particulates was measured for curing press operators. Outcome on screening tests for curing workers was compared with that of 280 white males at this same plant who had never worked in departments known to include jobs where they could have been exposed to respiratory health hazards. Employment in the curing department is associated with shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheeze, loss of FEV-1 and FVC, decline of FEV-1/FVC, and tingling and numbness in the extremities. These associations are stronger with increased duration of employment in the curing department. This paper further demonstrates the potential for using multiphasic health testing combined with measurements of workplace exposure for identifying occupational health hazards.