Study of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate as the Assessment of Lung Function in Occupationally Exposed Petrol Pump Workers of Western Maharashtra

Background: Fast urbanization trends, rapid industrial growth, globalization, and poor environmental conditions at work places have created a lot of healthrelated issues. Aim and Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) as the assessment of lung function in occupationally exposed petrol pump workers and also check whether PEFR increases or decreases with duration of exposure. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 male petrol pump workers between age group of 20-40 years who were working as petrol filling attendants for more than one year from western Maharashtra. 50 normal healthy males with same socioeconomic status were chosen as controls to find out the effect of occupational exposure to petroleum product on PEFR as the assessment of lung function tests. Petrol pump workers were divided into three groups based on their duration of exposure i.e. 1- 5 yrs, 6- 10 yrs and more than 11 years. PEFR of petrol pump workers and control was measured by using a Mini Wright peak flow meter which is a portable device for measuring ventilator functions. Comparisons was done using unpaired t-test for 2 groups comparisons and one way ANOVAfor multiple groups of exposures. Results: The PEFR was significantly lower decrease (p=0.001) around petrol pump workers (389.17) as compared to control (534.2. As year of exposure increased mean value of PEFR was significantly decreased from 452.17, 378.00 and 283.64 respectively in petrol pump workers. Conclusion: The results suggested that respiratory functions i.e. PEFR of occupationally exposed petrol pump workers are significantly reduced as compared to controls, also PEFR is significantly reduced with increase in the duration of exposure