Respiratory health effects in relation to crystalline silica

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to establish the feasibility of conducting such a prospective study of respiratory health effect in gold miners. In particular, the objectives were: (1) to establish whether routinely collected lung function and other data on the mines can be utilized for epidemiologic research; (2) to determine which mines could be selected for the prospective study, taking into consideration the wide range of mining conditions (dust levels, silica contents, etc.) and availability of databases; and (3) to develop the cohort study design and instruments for the study. Because of limited human resources we were able to accomplish only objectives 1 and 3. Nevertheless, the results from the feasibility study provide considerable amount of information that is directly relevant to a design and implementation an industry-wide prospective study. In addition, the information on its own is important for the occupational health in South Africa.