Source: International Congress 2015 – Occupational and environmental cohort investigations and population studies
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Aim: Many occupational hazards affect several target organs including the lungs. To prove the usefulness of BALF in assessing health status of workers from a metal plating unit and from a road paving company we performed it in a subgroup of the investigated cohorts.Material and Methods: In both groups clinical, respiratory functional tests were assessed and biochemical, immunological and exposure/effect biomarkers were determined. Statistical analysis using Student's t and c² tests was applied.Results: In metal exposed, 60.9% of subjects had emphysema and 43.5% had upper respiratory tract diseases. SOD activity in BALF varied inversely with blood SOD (r=-0.67, p<0.05, n=9) showing the impairment of antioxidant balance in both fluids. Blood total glutathione correlated with BALF SOD inhibition (r=0.75, p<0.05), illustrating the link between blood and lung detoxifying capacity. It also associated negatively (r=-0.63) with the gravity scores for respiratory diseases in this subgroup.In asphalt workers, spirometric changes were moderate (21% cases of mild distal obstructive sd) and blood SOD activity associated inversely with that in BALF (r=-0.60). Serum TBARS and Ig E correlated directly with smoking habit (p<0.01). BALF SOD activity correlated inversely with service length (r=-0.65, p<0.05, n=12) suggesting a straight occupational causality.Conclusions: Parallel blood and BALF assays revealed the impact of workplace air exposure upon respiratory health in both metal and asphalt exposed workers. BALF SOD inhibition could be an early sign to reflect lung injuries and the possible further transformation to oncogenic processes.


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Felicia Gradinariu (Iasi, Romania), Felicia Gradinariu, Irina Anca Popescu, Carmen Croitoru, Micaela Margineanu, Razvan Danulescu, Madalina Ipate, Ovidiu Petris, Eugenia Danulescu. Significance of alveolar lavage in assessing the aggressivity of different occupational exposures. Eur Respir J 2015; 46: Suppl. 59, 1169

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