Respiratory Health of Workers Exposed to Wood Dust in Pulp Industry Sumatera Selatan

DOI

10.2991/ahsr.k.200612.010How to use a DOI?

Keywords

wood dust, Wood Handling Process Unit, spirometry, respiratory disorders

Abstract

In pulp processing industry, exposure to wood dust is one of the main health risks for workers. Data and information on health problems associated with the risk of exposure to wood dust are still minimal recorded in published literature. This study aims to analyze the relationship between exposure to wood dust and lung function disorders and respiratory disease symptoms in pulp industry workers in South Sumatra. 80 workers are in the Wood Handling Process Unit in the Debarking, Chipping and Screening areas of PT. X South Sumatra chosen randomly determined spirometric values and exposure to wood dust. Inhalable wood dust exposure was carried out with Gravimetric technique of 20 measurement point samples spread over all three areas in the Wood Handling Process Unit. Respiratory health was measured through spirometry and the Standardized Respiratory Questionnaire from the American Thoracic Society (ATS). The age of the workers varies between 20-53 years (29.87 ± 7.13), height varies between 152-185 cm (167.80 ± 6.33), work period varies between 1-4 years (1.85 ± 0.85), dust exposure varies between 0.21-1.43 ppm (0.76 ± 0.36). Spirometry results showed that spirometry abnormalities in PVC parameters were 30%, FEV1 17.5%, FEV1 / FVC 7.5%, overall 56.3% of the samples had abnormal spirometry values. Workers who experience breathing problems shortness of breath, coughing and phlegm by 77.5%. Subsequent analysis showed that dust exposure and years of service in the company were predictors of spirometric values. The frequency of respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing and sputum are related to dust levels, work location, and smoking.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Widyastuti Faser
AU  - Tan Malaka
AU  - Yuanita Windusari
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/06/19
TI  - Respiratory Health of Workers Exposed to Wood Dust in Pulp Industry Sumatera Selatan
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd Sriwijaya International Conference of Public Health (SICPH 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 80
EP  - 85
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/ahsr.k.200612.010
DO  - 10.2991/ahsr.k.200612.010
ID  - Faser2020
ER  -