Effects of Dyes on Pulmonary Functions in Male Spray Dye Workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh

There are many steel product manufacturing industries in Bangladesh where chemical dyes are used for coating the steel made product. The spray dye workers are continuously exposed to chemical dyes. Prolong exposure of these dyes can cause pulmonary disorders of the workers. This cross-sectional study was done to evaluate pulmonary functions of male dye workers. This study was carried out in the Department of Community Medicine in Dhaka National Medical College from September 2013 to September 2014. Out of 60 subjects, 30 apparently healthy male spray dye workers were taken from different steel manufacturing factories as study group and 30 apparently healthy male subjects who are not exposed to spray dye were taken as control. Sample was taken by convenient type of non-probability sampling. Auto spirometer (AS-507) was used to measure the lung functions of both groups. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and FEV1/FVC% of all subjects were recored by using a digital spirometer. Unpaired t-test were performed for analysis of data. The mean percentage of predicted value of FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC% were significantly lower (p < .001) in spray dye workers than control group. From the result of this study it can be concluded that spray dye may have harmful effects on some pulmonary functions