INCIDENCE OF PHYSICAL COMPLICATIONS IN TILE INDUSTRY WORKERS DUE TO THE OCCUPATIONAL DUST EXPOSURE

Abstract

Introduction: Tile industry workers are at great risk of multitude chemical agents that can have short-term or long-term adverse effects on the physical and/or mental health. This paper studied Incidence of physical complications in tile industry workers with occupational dust exposure.
Materials and methods: Workplace air sampling was done through 0 - 500 method of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in different parts of a tile factory. Physical complications incidence was calculated in two groups (49 people in exposed group and 49 people in non - exposed group) by a researcher-designed questionnaire.
Results: The average concentration of dust was 232.8 ± 23.3 mg / m3 in the crusher, 76.4 ± 47.2 mg / m3 in the ball mill spray, 37.5 ± 34.9 mg / m3 in the press, 27.6 ± 7.2 mg / m3 in the glaze, and 7.6 1.2 ± mg/m3 in the administrative sectors. In the exposed group, various physical complications were observed such as coughing up sputum 28.6 %, wheezing 28.6 %, dyspnea 30.6 %, hoarseness 38.8 %, dryness of throat 55.1 %, blurred vision 20.4 %, eye irritation 49 % which were observed statistically significant difference with those of the non - exposed group.
Conclusions: Since the dust concentration mean in the exposed group was above the Threshold Limit Value (TLV), the physical complications in these workers can be associated with the high concentration of dust from the raw material in their workplace.