Journal article

Occupational exposures to solvents and metals are associated with fixed airflow obstruction

SM Alif, SC Dharmage, G Benke, M Dennekamp, JA Burgess, JL Perret, CJ Lodge, S Morrison, DP Johns, GG Giles, LC Gurrin, PS Thomas, JL Hopper, R Wood-Baker, BR Thompson, IH Feather, R Vermeulen, H Kromhout, E Haydnwalters, MJ Abramson Show all

Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health | SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH | Published : 2017

Abstract

Objectives This study investigated the associations between occupational exposures to solvents and metals and fixed airflow obstruction (AO) using post-bronchodilator spirometry. Methods We included 1335 participants from the 2002–2008 follow-up of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study. Ever-exposure and cumulative exposure-unit (EU) years were calculated using the ALOHA plus job exposure matrix (JEM). Fixed AO was defined as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) <0.7 and FEV1/FVCView full abstract