Assessment of relationship between pulmonary function indices and sulphate exposure in a sulphate production company

Workplace environment influences the workers’ health. Workers who work in dusty environments are exposed to particulate matters which their inhalation may damage respiratory tract and parenchyma. The evaluation of lung function by spirometry can detect respiratory disorders in early stages.Two hundred and twelve workers of a sulfate-producing industry were recruited in this cross sectional study. Collecting data was carried out from March to September 2014. The data were collected by questionnaire, spirometry and environmental measurements and subsequently they were statistically analyzed by the software SPSS version 16.The results of the current study showed that major indices of pulmonary function were lower in exposed group than the unexposed group; however, the difference was not significant (P-value>0.05).There was no association between pulmonary indices and exposure to low amounts of sulfate in the sulfate producing factory. Nevertheless, it seems that further studies with greater sample size and different methodology are needed in this regard.