Effects of exposure to flour dust on respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function of mill workers

Objective: To assess the effect of exposure to flour dust on respiratory symptoms and lung function of flour mill workers and to estimate the additive effect of smoking on pulmonary function. Patients and methods: This study was carried out at flour mills in Sohag Governorate. Two hundred male workers with current exposure to flour dust and two hundred non-exposed male as a control group were interviewed and self designed study questionnaire was administered to them and the parameters of their pulmonary function were measured. Results: Respiratory symptoms such as cough, expectoration, wheezing, and shortness of breath, were significantly (p < 0.0001) higher among exposed workers as compared to unexposed. Furthermore highly significant (p < 0.0001) decrements in the pulmonary function of exposed subjects were noted. Moreover, a highly significant decline in FEV1%, FVC% and FEV1/FVC% was noticed regarding the duration of exposure to flour dust (p < 0.0001). Also, there was a highly significant difference between heavily exposed compared to lightly exposed subjects (p < 0.001). The additive effect of smoking was noticed as there was a highly significant decline of FVC%, FEV1%, FEV1/FVC%, FEF25% and FEF75% in smokers compared to non-smokers (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Flour mill workers in Sohag Governorate, like grain workers elsewhere, were at an increased risk of developing pulmonary symptoms, a strong association exists between exposure to flour dust and the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and functional impairments of the lungs. The result has implications for improved dust control measures in the grain industry in Egypt. (C) The Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis.