Respiratory Morbidities and Pulmonary Function Tests of Rice Mill Workers in a City of Karnataka

Website : www.jphmr.com Quick Response Code : for more than 3 million people in Asia, and India ranks next only to China in Paddy production (about 40% of total grains). Since paddy cannot be consumed raw and needs to be processed, more than 1.5 lack rice mills are functioning in India (2005-06), employing a 14 significant number of population . This population is at risk of exposure to grain dust which has a long history of association with diseases, and adverse effects on various organs such as eyes, nose, skin, lung and the airways either due to irritative effect or allergic 15 reactions . Rice husk is known to have high silica 16 content . This biogenic silica may cause pulmonary disease resembling asbestosis, namely pleural thickening, fibrosis and possibly bronchogenic 17 carcinoma . In fact Lim and colleagues (1984) studied on various clinical symptoms and signs, hematological and radiological findings among rice mill workers in Malaysian population, and proposed J Pub Health Med Res 2016;4(1):1-5 ORIGINAL ARTICLE