Original scientific paper
Respiratory health of children at schools near a fertilizer plant
Milica Gomzi
; Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In an investigation carried out over a six-month period in 1990 and 1991 the effect of exposure to possible air pollutants from a fertilizer plant on the respiratory health of preadolescent children was estimated. Data about children and their home environment were collected from physical measurements at school and from a questionnaire which was administered to the parents. Simultaneously, air pollution measurements were undertaken. The school children were placed into two groups according to the distance of the school from the plant. The incidence of acute respiratory disorders was 24%. The mean values of forced expiratory volume (FEV1) were slightly and insignificantly lower in exposed children. When the confounding factors were taken into account, the prevalence of symptoms at schools within 1-3 km from the fertilizer production was marginally higher. These findings give no support to the hypothesis that fertilizer emissions cause respiratory disease in children although an adverse effect in a few sensitive children cannot be ruled out.
Keywords
air pollutants; lung function tests; phosphate fertilizer plant
Hrčak ID:
145008
URI
Publication date:
3.10.1996.
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