Symptoms, ventilatory function, and environmental exposures in Portland cement workers

Data on respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function were obtained for 2736 Portland cement plant workers and 755 controls. Personal dust samples contained a geometric mean concentration of 0.57 mg/m³ for respirable dust and 2.90 mg/m³ for total dust. Cement workers and controls had similar prevalences of symptoms, except that 5.4% of the cement workers had dyspnoea compared with 2.7% of the controls. The mean pulmonary function indices were similar for the two groups. Among cement plant workers, the prevalence of chronic phlegm increased with tenure whereas the prevalence of wheezing increased with both tenure and current dust level. Other symptoms and pulmonary function indices were not significantly related to exposure.