Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Correlation with Occupational Exposure in Milos Island

The adverse effect of mineral dust on general health level of the population has been widely studied lately. The research interest has been mainly focused on the respiratory function of coal miners and workers exposed to silica and asbestos containing dust [1-3] because a significant increase in COPD independent of smoking has been observed [4-5]. Among the materials considered hazardous for workers’ health are perlite, bentonite and caoline [6]. Perliteis an amorphous volcanic glass that has relatively high water content. It is mainly used as a soil conditioner, packaging material, construction insulator, agriculture substrate and as a filter aid. Perlite is regarded as a generally safe material, and the threshold limit value for perlite is 5 mg/m [7,8]. Bentonite is a clay mineral, which contents silica in percentages which range from1-20%. Up to date, several studies [9-11] have shown that exposure especially occupational to silica, may be associated mainly with lung and kidney malignancies in workers. Researchers found that bentonite particles may induce cytotoxicity and oxidative stress, as well as genotoxicity in human lymphoblast B cells [12,13]. The use of bentonite is widely spread in chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry, engineering, agriculture and mining. Humans are exposed to bentonite through occupational and environmental pathways, mostly by the respiratory tract and dermal contact.