Annual decline in forced expiratory volume is steeper in aluminum potroom workers than in workers without exposure to potroom fumes |
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| Authors: | Vidar Søyseth MD PhD Paul K. Henneberger MPH ScD Gunnar Einvik MD PhD Mohammed Abbas Virji MSc ScD Berit Bakke MSc PhD Johny Kongerud MD PhD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Medical Division, Akershus University Hospital, L?renskog, Norway;2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;3. Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia;4. Department of Occupational Health Surveilance, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway;5. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway |
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| Abstract: | Background Aluminum potroom exposure is associated with increased mortality of COPD but the association between potroom exposure and annual decline in lung function is unknown. We have measured lung volumes annually using spirometry from 1986 to 1996. The objective was to compare annual decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (dFEV1) and forced vital capacity (dFVC). Methods The number of aluminum potroom workers was 4,546 (81% males) and the number of workers in the reference group was 651 (76% males). The number of spirometries in the index group and the references were 24,060 and 2,243, respectively. Results After adjustment for confounders, the difference in dFEV1 and dFVC between the index and reference groups were 13.5 (P < 0.001) and ?8.0 (P = 0.060) ml/year. Conclusion Aluminum potroom operators have increased annual decline in FEV1 relative to a comparable group with non‐exposure to potroom fumes and gases. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:322–329, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
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| Keywords: | lung function longitudinal study aluminum smoking potroom exposure mixed model |
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