The Monitoring of Serum and Urine heavy Metals and assessment of inflammatory response, Respiratory Symptoms, and Pulmonary health in Cement-Exposed Workers

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

2 Department of Physiology School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

3 Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

4 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Persian Medicine, School of Persian and Complementary Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

5 Department of Pharmacodynamics and Toxicology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Air pollution in the workplace is a major health issue in developing countries. Cement manufacturing is a complex process that extracted the raw materials to the grinding of the end product in the cement factories (CF). Workers in CF are exposed to many harmful factors, such as dust and respirable particles of cement. This study is aimed to compare the respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function tests (PFT), total and differential white blood cells (WBC), serum level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and serum or urine heavy metal levels were between CF workers with control subjects.
The case-control study with convenience sampling was undertaken. A total of 40 non-smoking male cement workers with 40 healthy volunteers were recruited in the study. Respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function tests (PFT), total and differential white blood cells (WBC), serum‏ ‏ level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and serum or urine heavy metal levels were compared between the two groups. 
The frequency of respiratory symptoms including wheezing, dyspnoea, cough, and sputum, haematological parameters, serum level of hs-CRP level, as well as serum or urine heavy metal levels were significantly higher in cement workers. All PFT values except forced vital capacity (FVC) were lower in workers of the CF workers compared to control subjects. 
Respiratory insult, systemic inflammation and heavy metal changes were shown in CF workers. Increased serum and urine heavy metals may induce inflammatory processes leading to lung disorders. These results emphasize that the continuous monitoring of workers' workplace safety and occupational status.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Pollution
Volume 10, Issue 4
September 2024
Pages 1032-1043

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