| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄第一科技大學 === 環境與安全衛生工程系碩士班 === 106 === Acoustic rhinometry(AR) has been commonly used to measure structural changes of the human nasal cavity. Previous studies have confirmed that nasal mucosa swelling of the workers could be resulted from the exposure to the workplace dusts. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the association between the degree of nasal mucosal swelling and the dust exposure of the workers in an injection molding factory. The IOM samplers were used to measure the inhalable portion of dust exposure and AR was used to measure the nasal dimension of the workers at different work hours. Additionally, some basic information, such as the history of respiratory diseases and smoking habits, was collected by questionnaire. The average level of the inhalable dust was found to be 0.59 mg/m3,thus, 60 workers were divided into high and low exposure groups based on this level. The three areas with the highest dust level were smash area (5.51 mg/m3), mixing area (3.50 mg/m3) and mold maintenance area (1.08 mg/m3). The dust level in the smash area exceeded the Standards of Permissible Exposure Limits of Airborne Dust in Workplace set by the Taiwan Ministry of Labor (5 mg/m3). The AR measurements indicated that the degree of congestion in the high exposure group was significantly greater than that of the low exposure group, and dose-response relationship was observed. The statistical analyses showed that the nasal dimension of the male subjects was larger than that of the female subjects, though not significantly different, however, the degree of congestion after work of the male subjects was significantly greater than that of females. The minimum cross-sectional area (MCA) before work for the subjects with smoking habits was found to be larger than those don’t smoke, yet, the degree of congestion was not different between two them. The nasal dimensions of those with allergic rhinitis were smaller than those of those without allergic rhinitis. The present study concludes that AR is an effective tool to examine the physiological response resulted from the dust exposure.
|
|---|
