Potential health implications of exposure to non-combusted liquefied petroleum gas on vendors
Paper Details
Potential health implications of exposure to non-combusted liquefied petroleum gas on vendors
Abstract
Exposures to environmental pollutants have been associated with respiratory diseases in humans and Continuous exposure to non-combusted liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is suspected as a leading hazardous factor that might result in the development of impaired pulmonary functions. The study is aimed at assessing the effects of chronic exposure to non-combusted LPG on the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and appraising the potential pulmonary impairments among LPG vendors. Seventy five (75) apparently healthy LPG vendors and Seventy five (75) apparently healthy non LPG vendors, aged 18 to 50 years were recruited into this study. The Forced expiratory volume in 1second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were obtained using a Spirometer while FEV1/FVC was calculated. Independent t-test was applied to determine the mean difference between the exposed and control groups at 5% level of significance. Chi-square test/Fisher’s exact test was used to investigate all forms of associations in the study. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in LPG vendors was highest in nasal irritation/sneezing (56%), followed by cough (53.3%), wheeze (40%) and chest tightness (26.7%), respectively. Only the symptoms of nasal irritation/sneezing and cough showed significant association with the LPG vendors (P<0.05). Association between respiratory symptoms and age, association between respiratory symptoms and duration of exposure were not significant (P >0.05). There was a recorded significant decrease in FEV1, FVC, PEF except FEV1/FVC for the LPG vendors (P <0.05) compared to the non LPG vendors. The health implications of exposure to LPG are high prevalence rate of respiratory symptoms (nasal irritation/sneezing and cough) and impaired pulmonary functions.
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