Professional paper
Respiratory impairment due to long-term exposure to barite dust
D. Stanković
; Institut za patofiziologiju, Medicinski fakultet, Sarajevo
A. Pleho
; Institut za patofiziologiju, Medicinski fakultet, Sarajevo
M. Šarić
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada JAZU, Zagreb
Đ. Vukadinović
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada JAZU, Zagreb
Abstract
Occurrence of baritosis and prevalence of chronic bronchitis were studied in a group of 65 male workers engaged in the milling and sifting of barite dust. The study included interview based on the questionnaire about respiratory symptoms, an X-ray examination of the lungs, determination of the volume and consistency of the morning sputum and examination of ventilatory functions (FVC and FEV1.0). As a control in the study of nonspecific respiratory symptoms served a group of 65 workers of approximately the same age and similar Iiving and nutritional conditions who have never been exposed to industrial dusts or irritant gases. X-ray changes indicative of baritosis were found in 18 workers. At a constant heavy exposure baritosis was detected already after a 4-year exposure, while at recurrent exposures it needed considerably longer to develop - over 10, or even 20-30 years. Tomographic examinations performed in workers with pronounced baritosis indicate that shadows may partly be due to fibrous changes and not exclusively to barium sulphate dust accumulated in the lungs. These findings might be attributed to the free silica content of dust which was approximately 2.0%. Most symptoms indicative of chronic bronchial impairment were determined in a considerably higher percentage in workers exposed to barite dust than in the control group. In the interpretation of these findings the smoking habit and age of subjects were taken into consideration. The percentage of reduced FVC and FEV1.0 values was approximately the same in both exposed and control group. In the exposed group, however, workers wi1th the radiographic finding of baritosis showed a higher percentage of reduced FVC and FEV1.0 values than those not affected with baritosis.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
176028
URI
Publication date:
12.12.1968.
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