[Prevalence of tobacco smoking among workers exposed to asbestos dust]

The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking among workers of an asbestos processing plant.

Records of medical consultations and prophylactic examinations performed at the Outpatient Clinic of Occupational Diseases, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland, covering the period of over 40 years, were the source of information about 1353 workers (802 men and 551 women). The employment duration of the majority (85.6%) of workers was 10 years or more.

In the study population, only about one third (33.7%) of workers declared themselves as non-smokers, 42.9% of workers were current smokers and 23.4% ex-smokers. Smoking was significantly more frequent among men (57.1% of current and 27.2% of ex-smokers) than among women (22.3% and 17.8%, respectively). The largest percentage of current smokers (79.7% of men and 60.3% of women) was found in the age group below 40 years. Comparison of standardized values of smoking parameters showed a larger proportion of smokers in the study group than in the general population in Poland (45.2% vs. 38.7%). However, the workers started smoking at somewhat older age (22.0 yr vs. 20.1 yr), smoked less cigarettes per day (15.2 vs. 20.7) and continued smoking for somewhat shorter period (20.8 yr vs. 23 yr).

A high proportion of tobacco smokers among workers of asbestos processing plant shows a low efficiency of anti-smoking programs carried out in this population. This highlights the need to take more effective measures in this group of workers who are already exposed to a very harmful agent.