RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Gender differences in the effect of occupational endotoxin exposure on impaired lung function and death: the Shanghai Textile Worker Study
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 118
OP 125
DO 10.1136/oemed-2013-101676
VO 71
IS 2
A1 Peggy S Lai
A1 Jing Qing Hang
A1 Feng Ying Zhang
A1 Xinyi Lin
A1 Bu Yong Zheng
A1 Hei Lian Dai
A1 Li Su
A1 Tianxi Cai
A1 David C Christiani
YR 2014
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/71/2/118.abstract
AB Objective Airborne endotoxin exposure has adverse and protective health effects. Studies show men have augmented acute inflammatory responses to endotoxin. In this longitudinal cohort study we investigated the effect of long-term exposure to endotoxin in cotton dust on health, and determined whether these effects differ by gender. Methods In the Shanghai Textile Worker Study, 447 cotton and 472 control silk textile workers were followed from 1981 to 2011 with repeated measures of occupational endotoxin exposure, spirometry and health questionnaires. Impaired lung function was defined as a decline in forced expiratory volume in one second to less than the 5th centile of population predicted. Death was ascertained by death registries. We used Cox proportional hazards models to assess the effect of endotoxin exposure on the time to development of impaired lung function and death. Results 128 deaths and 164 diagnoses of impaired lung function were ascertained between 1981 and 2011. HRs for the composite end point of impaired lung function or death was 1.47 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.97) for cotton vs silk workers and 1.04 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.07) per 10 000 endotoxin units (EU)/m3-years increase in exposure. HRs for all-cause mortality was 1.36 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.99) for cotton vs silk workers and 1.04 (95% CI 0.99 to 1.08) per 10 000 EU/m3-years. The risk associated with occupational endotoxin exposure was elevated only in men. Conclusions Occupational endotoxin exposure is associated with an increase in the risk of impaired lung function and all-cause mortality in men.