The study of the function of external respiration for the purpose of prenosological diagnosis of respiratory pathology related to work is an urgent task in the development of measures for the prevention of health disorders in 
 workers.
 The study aims to conduct a hygienic assessment of the chemical factor of working conditions and indicators of respiratory function in metalworking workers engaged in the metalworking process using lubricant cooling liquids.
 We have examined 250 male workers of the Saratov metalworking enterprise. The main group consisted of 145 people working in contact with lubricants and coolants, the control group consisted of 105 people not in contact with lubricants and coolants. The researchers have conducted a hygienic assessment of the chemical factor of working conditions in the workplace and a spirometric study of the function of external respiration in workers. The results of the study were statistically processed using the Statistica 10 program. The concentrations of chemicals in the workers' breathing zone comply with the hygienic requirements for the air of the working area corresponding to permissible working conditions (Class 2). According to spirometry data, the researchers have identified respiratory function values corresponding to the appropriate values, in the absence of statistically significant differences in spirometric indicators between the main and control groups.
 To identify the etiological contribution of chronic exposure to lubricants and coolants to the formation of respiratory pathology of workers, it is necessary to conduct additional in-depth clinical, laboratory, functional and epidemiological studies taking into account pollutants present in the air of the working area and their combined effects.
 Ethics. The studies were conducted in compliance with Ethical standards and principles of conducting medical research with human participation, set out in the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association (ed. 2013). Written consent of respondents was obtained to participate in the study. The study was approved by the local Ethical Committee of the Saratov Hygiene Research Center of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Federal Research Center for Medical and Preventive Technologies of Public Health Risk Management" (Protocol No. 10 of 03/16/2023).