Effect of exposure to cement dust on Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) in non-smoking cement mill workers.

OBJECTIVES This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the effects of exposure to cement dust on Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) in non-smoking cement mill workers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We recruited 121 apparently healthy male volunteers, 90 of them were non-smoking cement mill workers and 31 non-smoking un-exposed subjects served as control. The mean age of cement mill workers was 36.62 ± 1.03 years and 36.65 ± 2.28 years of control subjects. Based on the duration of exposure, cement mill workers were divided into four groups, less than 5, 5-10, 10-15 and more than 15 years. All subjects were individually matched for age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide test was performed by using Niox Mino. RESULTS Significant increased level of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide was observed in cement mill workers (31.71 ± 2.963 ppb) compared to their non-exposed counterparts (25.39 ± 2.46 ppb). The significance difference was further increased with long-term working exposure in cement industry. CONCLUSIONS Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide is significantly increased in cement mill workers and associated with duration of exposure to cement dust. The findings also show that cement mill workers have higher pulmonary inflammation.