Lung Function in Chrysotile Asbestos Mine and Mill Workers of Quebec

Abstract

Lung function tests were carried out on art age-stratified random sample of 1,015 Quebec asbestos workers whose dust exposure had been estimated from their work history and available dust levels in the industry in nonsmokers, several function tests distinguished the lower two dust-exposure groups. These were inspiratory capacity, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in 0.75 second and in 1.0 second. In smokers the same tests were somewhat less sensitive. Any of the tests mentioned appear to be suitable for health surveillance of asbestos-exposed workers, whatever their smoking habits.