Anepidemiological study ofthehealth ofSriLankan teaplantation workers associated withlong term exposuretoparaquat

Pulmonaryfunction tests(FVC,FEV1,FEV,/ FVC%,TLCO,single breath CO diffusion), chest xrayfilm, renal function (serumcreatinine and bloodureanitrogen), liverfunction (serum alanineaminotransferase, aspartate transferase, andalkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, total protein, andalbumin), ahaematological screen(haemoglobin andpacked cell volume), andageneral clinical examination wereperformedon 85 paraquatspraymen(mean spraying time12years) andon two control groups(76factory workersand 79general workers) frequency matchedforageandyears ofoccupational service. Allthesubjects were men.Therewerenoclinically important differences inanyofthemeasurementsmade betweenthestudygroupandthetwocontrol groups.Inparticular theresults ofthelung function tests, appropriate forparaquattoxicity ofthestudygroup,weresimilar tothose ofthecontrol groups.Thesame was trueof bloodtestsforliver andkidney function. The incidence ofskindamage, nosebleeds, andnail damageinthestudygroupwasslightly higher thaninthecontrol groupsbutlowerthanthe incidence reported forparaquatworkersin previous studies. The results ofthisstudy confirmed thatlongtermspraying ofparaquat, at the concentrations used,producedno adverse healtheffects, inparticular no lung