Asia Pacific Environmental and Occupational Health Journal

Objective: Metal workingfluids (MWFs) are used to lubricate, cool working pieces and to minimize corrosion and wash away metal chips, in a wide range of machining processes. Machinist are exposed to MWFs in the form of aerosol and particulate which are smaller than 10μm which can reach the alveoli, the upper and lower respiratory tract.

Objective: The objective was to determine the association between MWFs exposures with respiratory health and lung functions among machinists.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among workers exposed to MWFs. Simple random sampling was used to select 154 respondents from a name list given. A set of translated Questionnaire ATS-DLD, was used to obtain background information and respiratory symptoms. A Portable Spirometer was used to measure the lung function test among workers (Model MM-SPOO4). The individual environmental air exposure was determined using personal air sampling pump (NIOSH Method 552).

Results: The mean for age and years of employment were 36 years and 3 years respectively. There was a significant difference between MWFs concentrations in the environment with the work sections (p<0.001). The environmental and individual MWFs was significantly correlated (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Findings showed that the MWFs exposure was lower than the NIOSH recommended exposure limit. There was no significant association between personal exposure with respiratory symptoms and lung function, however, smoking significantly increased the frequency of respiratory symptoms and impaired the lung functions

Keywords: Metalworking fluids, lung function, respiratory symptom, occupational exposure