CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE AMONG PULP MILL WORKERS IN AN ARCTIC AREA IN NORTHERN FINLAND

• Published in: Acta Medica Scandinavica
• Main Authors: Huhti, Esko, Ryhänen, Pauli, Vuopala, Unto, Takkunen, Juha
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1970
• Subjects: Arctic; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0954-6820.1970.tb02968.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0954-6820.1970.tb02968.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0954-6820.1970.tb02968.x

Abstract. A total of 953 pulp mill workers have been examined, using a standardized questionnaire, ventilation tests, and chest roentgenography, to determine the prevalence and aetiology of respiratory symptoms and chronic non‐specific lung disease (CNSLD) in an industrial population from an arctic area in Northern Finland. About 10% of the men had (active or inactive) pulmonary tuberculosis or “other respiratory disease”, as defined. After their exclusion there remained 812 men averaging 37.9 years (range 18–64 years) for the main study. The group of 812 men consisted of 20% non‐smokers, 21 % ex‐smokers and 59 % smokers, but only 8 % smoked 25 g or more daily. Age had no substantial effect on the smoking habits, although the number of ex‐smokers increased slightly with age. Only 81 men (10% of the total) smoked cigars and/or pipe, the others smoking cigarettes. In all age groups the smokers coughed more and produced more phlegm than did the non‐smokers and ex‐smokers; the frequency of symptoms increased with the amount smoked daily. Dyspnoea, wheezing, and temporary chest illnesses also were more common among smokers. The effect of age on the prevalence of respiratory symptoms (excluding dyspnoea and effects of weather) remains uncertain. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis, diagnosed on the basis of phlegm production, was 27% in the whole material; the prevalence was 11% for non‐smokers and ex‐smokers, and 49% for those smoking 25 g or more daily. There were only six cases of asthma, and the prevalence of all forms of CNSLD was 29%. The smokers showed significantly lower FEV 1 and FEV 1 % values than the non‐smokers. There was no such difference in FVC. The present investigation was carried out in a cold climate—an area where snow usually covers the ground from October to April. Even in these unfavourable weather conditions smoking proved the most important, though not the only, cause of chronic bronchitis and respiratory symptoms in the population studied. The effects of the cold climate and of the ...