Work conditions and development of respiratory pathology in meat processing factory workers

Abstract

To study a rate and a character of respiratory and allergic pathology in subjects engaged in industrial production of sausages and other meat foods, this prospective longitudinal trial was performed in workers of one of the leading meat processing factories at Moscow. The trial involved 110 subjects (53 females and 57 males) aged 20 to 73 yrs with mean length of service of 11.7 yrs. There were 56 current smokers (50.9 %) with smoking history of 21.5 pack-yrs in average. The authors used the specialized SWORD questionnaire, clinical and ENT examination, spirometry and bronchodilating test with Ventolin, peak flowmetry to detect specific bronchial hyperreactivity, measured serum cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6). According to the questionnaire results, 38 workers (34.5 %) had respiratory symptoms (cough, sputum production, breathlessness, asthma attacks) and 17 workers (15.5 %) had allergic symptoms (skin itch, urticaria, tearing, eyelid itch and hyperemia, rhinorrea, nasal congestion). Clinical respiratory signs were found only in 13 (11.8 %) of the workers. Lung function disorders were found in 40 (36.4 %) of the workers. The degree of FEV₁  and PEF decrease significantly correlated with the length of service (r = –0.26 and r = –0.29, respectively). Av inverse correlation was found between FEV₁ and cytokine levels (r = –0.3; r = –0.31 and r = –0.26 for IL-4, IL-6, and TNF-α, respectively). Therefore, the results show the actuality of healthcare problems in subjects involved in meat processing.