A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF RESPIRATORY INDICES IN PETROL STATION WORKERS OF AGARTALA

The study was conducted on 32 nonsmoker healthy petrol pump workers within 20-50 years age group working in different petrol stations of Agartala with 32 age and sex matched healthy controls from general population. Pulmonary function test parameters FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC (%), PEFR & FEF25-75% were recorded by electronic Spirometer using Helios 401 software. There was a statistically significant decrease in all the pulmonary function test parameters in petrol pump workers when compared with the age and sex matched healthy controls. This decline in respiratory indices of petrol pump workers can be due to the inflammatory reactions on airways by the petrol and diesel particles or by mechanical occlusion of the airways by accumulation for longer periods. Preventive measures like pre-employment checkup, use of safety oro-nasal masks, periodic medical checkup, set up standard air quality control, proper vapour recovery system from petrol stations etc. can be employed to secure their health