Airway symptoms and lung function among male workers in an area polluted from an oil tank explosion

To assess whether working in an industrial harbor where an oil tank exploded was associated with more airway symptoms and lower lung function in men 1.5 years later.

In a cross-sectional study of 180 men, 18 to 67 years old, airway symptoms and lung function among men who worked in the industrial harbor at the time of the explosion was compared with those of working men with residence more than 20 km away. Regression analyses are adjusted for smoking, occupational exposure, atopy, recent infection, and age.

Exposed men had significantly more upper (ORirritated nose = 2.89 [95% confidence interval = 1.31 to 6.37]) and lower (ORdyspnea uphill = 3.79 [95% confidence interval = 1.69 to 8.46]) airway symptoms, and some indication of more reversible airway obstruction than unexposed workers.

Men working in an area with an oil tank explosion had more airway symptoms and indication of more airway obstruction 1.5 years after the event.