Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary functions in hazelnut workers

Introduction: To investigate the effects of hazelnut exposure on pulmonary functions in a cross-sectional study on hazelnut processing workers. Materials-methods: One hundred fifty hazelnut workers (137 females and 13 males), and seventy controls (63 females and 7 males) were included. A questionnaire regarding the respiratory symptoms was given to all subjects. Standard pre-shift and post-shift forced expiratory pulmonary functions were obtained from all participitants by spirometry. Furthermore, dust particles were measured according to their sizes. Results: The occurences of common respiratory complaints as cough (8%) and dyspnea (6%) were significantly higher in hazelnut workers than the controls (p=0.009 and p=0.029, respectively). Both of the pre-shift and post-shift spirometric values of hazelnut workers were significantly lower than those of controls. Post-shift FVC (2738.9 +/- 652.2) was significantly lower than pre-shift FVC (2765.8 +/- 634.8) in hazelnut workers (p=0.024). Nine hazelnut (6.0%) workers have shown a decrease of more than 10% in post shift FEV 1 whereas none of the controls have had abnormal decrease in post shift values (p=0.060). Conclusion: A significant deterioration in both restrictive and obstructive pulmonary functions was observed in hazelnut workers. Preventive measures against dusty workplaces should be undertaken to protect the respiratory health of hazelnut workers.