[Ventilatory functions in subjects exposed to hydrogen peroxide at levels below the TLV: longitudinal study]

In the bottling departments of a beverage processing plant, exposure to hydrogen peroxide was below TLV from 1995 to 2001. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume 1st second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC were compared between exposed and unexposed workers. Using sparse data collected from 1993 to 2002, changes over time (slope) were calculated for each functional index in each subject. The slope was the dependent variable at multiple regression analysis with exposure and smoking as predictive variables. Using complete data collected from 2000 to 2002 in fewer subjects, the longitudinal changes were assessed by repeated measures analysis of variance. Both methods provide same results: with respect to unexposed, in exposed workers FVC increased, FEV1/was unchanged and FEV1/FVC decreased; the latter difference was no more significant when FVC slope was added as covariate to the model. In conclusion, the findings seem to support the current TLV for hydrogen peroxide. There were no similar studies in the literature.