Respiratory Illness in the Construction Industry

Airflow Obstruction Among Painters

¹ From the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Science and Physiology, Occupational Health Program, Boston

To assess the potential respiratory effects of exposure to paint products, the pulmonary function of 118 construction painters was compared to construction workers unexposed to paints (314 sheet metal workers). When compared to sheet metal workers, painters reported significant excess symptoms of cough (p<0.05), wheezing (p<0.001), and dyspnea (p<0.0001). Nonsmoking painters working at least 15 years in the trade had significant decrements in percent predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (%FEV₁) (p<0.025) and in the percent predicted ratio of the forced expiratory volume in one second to the forced vital capacity (%FVC₁/FVC) (p<0.025). Current smoking painters working less than 15 years in the trade demonstrated significant decrements in %FEV₁ (p<0.05) and %FEV₁/FVC (p<0.05). Restricting the analysis to painters, and controlling for smoking, we observed a significant relationship between years of exposure to paint products and airflow obstruction. Painters may be at risk for developing airflow obstruction and these changes appear to be related to the duration of exposure to paint products. Painters who smoke may be at risk of developing oping this obstructive process earlier than nonsmokers.