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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Measuring Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages Exposed to Carbon-Containing Particulate Matters
Published on: July 12, 2024
Effects of grain dust on lungs prior to and following dust remediation
Punam Pahwa1, James A Dosman, Helen H McDuffie
1Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, and Institute of Agricultural Rural and Environmental Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Objective:
To determine longitudinal estimates of pulmonary function decline in Canadian grain elevator workers before and after dust control by analyzing data collected from five regions of Canada over 15 years.
Methods:
Declines in forced expired volume in one second and forced vital capacity before and after dust control were estimated by using a generalized estimating equations approach.
Results:
For grain workers who were in the grain industry for 20 or more years both before and after dust control: the mean annual loss of forced expired volume in one second was greatest among current smoking grain workers followed by ex-smokers and nonsmokers, respectively. Similar results were obtained for forced vital capacity.
Conclusions:
Grain dust control was effective in reducing decline in the lung function measurements among grain workers in all smoking and exposure categories.
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