Pulmonary Function and Influence Factors among Residents around Gwangyang Steel Mill

Objectives: This study aims to identify the influential factors on the pulmonary function of targeted general residents in the areas surrounding Gwangyang Steel Mill. Methods: An PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) was conducted from May 2007 to November 2007 on 974 target residents (438 male, 536 female), including an exposed group (674 people) who resided within a radius of 5 km from Gwangyang Steel Mill in Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do and a control group (300 people) who resided outside a radius of 15 km. A survey related to personal characteristics, life habits, respiratory diseases and allergic symptoms, medical histories and living environments of the residents was also conducted to identify influential factors on pulmonary function. Results: As %$FEV_1$ and %FVC of the exposed group are 99.17% and 96.98%, respectively, and those of the control group are 105.47% and 101.91%, respectively, with the PFT values of the exposed group being lower than those of the control group (p<0.001), it turns out that the pollution in the industrial complex is likely to trigger a reduction in the pulmonary function of local residents. The odds ratio analysis result for asthma diagnosis history indicates that the odds ratios tend to be higher among surveyed residents who are living near above-average traffic volumes and are using beds, where it is statistically meaningful that especially the odds ratios are higher if the residences are closer to roads (p<0.01, CI=1.12-4.52). The factors that affect the FEV1 are identified as smoking, passive smoking, asthma diagnosis history, nasal congestion symptoms and allergic eye disease ($R^2$=0.154, p<0.001). The factors that affect the FVC are identified as smoking, passive smoking, asthma diagnosis history and allergic coryza ($R^2$=0.158, p<0.001). In addition, the analysis result for the relevance of air pollution levels to pulmonary function ($FEV_1$, FVC) shows that FEV1 and FVC tend to decrease as the concentration of $O_3$ increases. Conclusions: We believe that this study may provide preliminary data for the development of preventive measures for health effects on the residents and environmental health control measures for environmental pollution in the industrial complex area