Publication:

A Statistical study to estimate the effects of smoking and cotton dust exposure on lung function of cotton workers of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India

Background Occupational health has been included in National Health Policy, with a mission of providing safe healthy environment for the cotton textile workers by Government of India. With large population being agriculture dependent, the cotton textiles sector is the second largest provider of employment in India. Workers of these cotton and related industries are exposed to cotton dust in mills during carding, blowing, spinning and weaving of cotton fibers. Smoking is another causative factor for aggravating these respiratory symptoms in workers as most of them are habitual to smoking due to work load. Following studies was initiated with an objective to evaluate the interaction between cotton dust exposure and smoking on the lung function of these subjectsMethods: Five hundred (500) male weavers, from Varanasi, the state of Uttar Pradesh, North India working in various spinning outlets, were approached for this study with work duration of 10-15years. These subjects selected were in the age group of 28-41 years with no chronic medical history and lung ailments. Some of the workers had smoking history varying from 5-18 years. After segregating them in various groups (G1-G4), lung functions were monitored by evaluating the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in workers of all the groups in lit/min.

Results As lung functions were evaluated in terms of PEFR as main parameter. The results of the present study indicate significantly low values of PEFR (lit/min) in cotton spinning workers (G-3) as compared to normal healthy individuals (G-1), which got further impaired due to prevalence of smoking in subjects of cotton spinners (G-4). The level of significance (p<0.05) for altered lung functions in smoking workers was much higher than those in nonsmoking workers suggesting involvement of larger airways.

Conclusions Present results of this study; indicate that smoking potentiates the effects of cotton dust exposure on the respiratory functions of spinners by indicating the prevalence of enhanced lung symptoms as well as byssinosis.