1. Occupational Exposure to Urban Air Pollution and Allergic Diseases
- Author
-
Luigi Vimercati, Maria Franca Gatti, Eustachio Nettis, Marina Musti, Gabriella Lucia Maria Martina, Elisabetta Di Leo, M. Palma, Antonio Baldassarre, and Nicola Favia
- Subjects
Spirometry ,Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Allergy ,health surveillance ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,medicine.medical_treatment ,lcsh:Medicine ,Physical examination ,allergic sensitization ,Nasal provocation test ,Article ,Allergic sensitization ,Internal medicine ,Air Pollution ,Occupational Exposure ,medicine ,Hypersensitivity ,Humans ,Medical history ,Aged ,Skin Tests ,Vehicle Emissions ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Case-control study ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Police ,Italy ,Case-Control Studies ,Physical therapy ,Female ,Rhinomanometry ,business ,urban pollution - Abstract
Exposure to air pollution is associated with increased morbidity from cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, respiratory and allergic diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate allergic diseases in 111 traffic wardens compared to a control group of 101 administrative employees. All participating subjects underwent a physical examination, in which a complete medical history was taken and a dedicated allergological questionnaire administered. Spirometry, Specific IgE dosage (RAST) and skin prick tests (SPT) were done. Diagnostic investigations such as the nasal cytology, a specific nasal provocation test and rhinomanometry were also performed. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 11. The percentage of subjects with a diagnosis of allergy was higher in the exposed workers than in the controls. As regards the clinical tests, the positivity was higher for the group of exposed subjects. Among the exposed workers, those who worked on foot or motorcycle had a higher positivity in clinical trials compared to the traffic wardens who used the car. Our study showed a higher percentage of allergic subjects in the group of workers exposed to outdoor pollutants than in the controls. These results suggest that allergological tests should be included in the health surveillance protocols for workers exposed to outdoor pollutants.
- Published
- 2015