Some observations on pulmonary function tests in rice mill workers

A study was carried out to determine the effects of rice husk dust on pulmonary functions in Rice mill workers. The study population consisted of 150 male Rice mill workers from 6 Rice mills with 50 controls of similar age, sex, ethnic group and agricultural work background. Twenty eight Rice mill workers showed obstructive, whereas eight workers showed restrictive type of pulmonary impairment. The results show that the duration of exposure of Rice husk dust is the workers is related to the degree of decline in FVC, FEV1, FEV3, PEFR and MVV. This could be attributed to allergic inflammatory reactions of pulmonary tissue due to Rice husk dust.