background: occupational exposure to cotton dust, fibers, metal fumes and different chemicals used in the apparel manufacturing industries cause a wide range of physical and psychological health problems in the garment workers that may also affect their immune function. objective: to assess the immune system function in garment workers. methods: a total of 45 workers of a garment factory, and 4...

The prevalence of deaths from lung cancer, other cancer, and all other causes was studied in workers and former workers at two factories (A and B) in the United Kingdom at which chloromethyl methyl ether has been manufactured, at one since about 1948 and at the other since 1956. At factory A in South Wales 571 men were traced and at factory B in the north east of England 1196. A statistically s...

Changes in the colour and, structure of the teeth in workers exposed to strong inorganic acid fumes have, we believe, been recognized for many years by the workers themselves. Various measures of protection have, in fact, been unofficially adopted by them, and these we shall discuss below. Because these changes do not give rise to any loss of time or earnings, and because the affected workers h...

The prevalence of active and inactive peptic ulcer was 23% in male workers aged 31-60 at a plastics processing factory in Tokyo. Similarly, the incidence of active and inactive peptic ulcer during one year was 5% or more. The findings from a case control study suggested that smoking and family history were the major aetiological factors. The incidence and prevalence of peptic ulcer in male fact...

Introduction: Noise, as the most common pollutant in the industrial environment, can lead to hearing loss and negatively affect other organs such as the cardiovascular system. Cigarette smoking is a popular habit among some workers, and can also have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system. This study aimed to investigate the effect of simultaneous exposure to noise and cigarette smoke o...

Colophony is known to cause occupational asthma and dermatitis. Biological monitoring may be useful in assessing exposure. This paper describes a method for the analysis of dehydroabietic acid in urine and its potential use as a marker of colophony exposure. The method involves hydrolysis, solvent extraction, derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Twenty-eight work...

BACKGROUND The prevalence and incidence of syphilis infection were examined in a cohort study of factory workers in Ethiopia. METHOD Between February 1997 and March 1999, 409 men and 348 women were enrolled and followed in the cohort study. RESULTS The prevalence (95% CI) of past/current syphilis (positive TPPA serology) was 28.9% (25.7% to 32.3%), and factors associated with past/current s...

Were ordinary factory workers unskilled and was technology “de-skilling” during the Industrial Revolution? I measure foregone output to estimate the human capital investments in mule spinners and power loom tenders in ante-bellum Lowell. These investments rivaled those of craft apprentices. Although factory workers were unskilled in a sense, the implementation of this technology depended on the...

Two summer outbreaks of humidifier fever (HF) are described in a microprocessor factory (factory A) and a printing factory (factory B). The air in each factory was humidified intermittently and controlled by present humidistats operating to maintain a relative humidity of 45% by an air handler incorporating a spray humidifier in factory A and two ceiling mounted spray humidifiers in factory B. ...

This study was undertaken to assess the pulmonary and respiratory problems of workers in a zarda factory. A total of 70 permanent zarda workers (50 manufacturing workers and 20 office ones) were studied in a factory in Baguihati, Kolkata, India. The study included (a) completion of a questionnaire (on pulmonary and respiratory problems), (b) measurement of physical parameters, (c) spirometry an...