Airway symptoms and lung function in pipelayers exposed to thermal degradation products from MDI-based polyurethane.
Author
Summary, in English
OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of symptoms from the eyes and the upper and lower respiratory tract, lung function, and immunological sensitisation towards isocyanates in pipelayers exposed to thermal degradation products from methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)-based polyurethane (PUR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 50 presently active and 113 formerly active pipelayers were examined. Also, 65 unexposed workers were investigated for comparison. The one year prevalence of symptoms and smoking history (questionnaire data), lung function (vital capacity (VC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and atopy (positive skin prick tests towards standard allergens) were assessed among pipelayers and controls. For the pipelayers, the presence of work related symptoms and estimates of isocyanate and welding exposure were obtained from an interview. Skin prick tests towards specific isocyanate antigens and determinations of IgE-MDI and IgG-MDI in serum were also performed. RESULTS: The
Publishing year
1997
Language
English
Pages
873-879
Publication/Series
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume
54
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Topic
- Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1470-7926