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Occupational morbidity among children employed in brassware industry
V Bihari1, S K Rastogi, B N Gupta
1Department of Epidemiology, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, M.G. Marg, Lucknow.
Insights
Children in India
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Pediatric Health
- Environmental Medicine
Background:
- Child labor in the brassware industry poses significant health risks.
- Exposure to metal fumes and dust is common in brassware manufacturing.
- Understanding occupational morbidity in child workers is crucial for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate occupational morbidity in male children (10-16 years) in the brassware industry.
- To compare respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders between children exposed to metal fumes and those in ancillary units.
- To identify specific health impairments linked to occupational exposures.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 57 male children in brassware units and 29 in ancillary units.
- Assessment of respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders.
- Pulmonary function tests to evaluate ventilatory abnormalities and bronchial obstruction.
Main Results:
- Higher prevalence of respiratory morbidity (40.3%) in brassware workers compared to ancillary workers (27.6%).
- Significant pulmonary impairment (21.0%) in brassware workers, including restrictive ventilatory abnormality (10.5%) and bronchial obstruction (7.0%).
- High prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (27.6% and 22.8%) in both groups, attributed to posture and physical stress.
Conclusions:
- Chronic exposure to nickel, chromium, and cadmium fumes/dust in the brassware industry leads to significant respiratory morbidity.
- Child workers in the brassware industry face substantial risks of pulmonary impairment.
- Musculoskeletal disorders are prevalent in child workers due to sustained faulty posture and physical stress.
Abstract:
Fifty seven male children between ages of 10-16 years engaged in the brassware industry at Moradabad in Northern India were studied for occupational morbidity. The finding were compared with those obtained in the children (n = 29) engaged in other ancillary units which did not involve exposure to the metal fumes and dust in their work environment. The study showed a high prevalence of respiratory morbidity in the children engaged in the main units in comparison to those employed in the ancillary units (40.3 vs 27.6%; p less than 0.05). This was associated with significantly higher prevalence of pulmonary impairment in the former group (21.0%) particularly demonstrating restrictive ventilatory abnormality (10.5%) followed by bronchial obstruction (7.0%). The high respiratory morbidity may be attributed to chronic exposure to the fumes and dust of the metals such as nickel, chromium and cadmium. The children employed in the ancillary as well as in the main units showed high prevalences of musculo-skeletal disorders (27.6 and 22.8%) which may be caused by sustained faulty posture adopted during work and physical stress.