Women beware of wood dust


Reading time 1 min.
arton18240

Women who in the course of their work are exposed to wood dust are at greater risk of developing asthma, coughs and chronic bronchitis than other female workers.

Though in itself this may not seem surprising, according to a Danish study, the same is not true of men.

More than 1,000 individuals who work with wood were monitored over the course of 6 years.

Their state of health was compared with that of workers who were not exposed to wood dust.

All participants filled in a questionnaire relating mainly to their working life, whether or not they smoked and whether they suffered from respiratory problems.

The first result showed that the exposure level had decreased significantly over the course of the 6 years they were monitored for the study, dropping from 0.9mg/m3 to 0.6mg/m3.

These levels are well below the European average.

And yet even with a three times lower exposure level, the author still observed many dangers associated with wood dust.

The risk of suffering from coughing or chronic bronchitis is 2.3 times higher for women working with wood than for other female workers.

However, this increased risk level was not observed in the case of male workers.

And this is a matter of concern as the author believes that women are probably more susceptible than men to wood dust.

Women  Read latest news and features for Women: feminism, Africans, Amazons, emancipation, excision, infibulation, liberation, Senegalese, Ivorian, Beninese, Cameroonian, Gabonese, Malian, Algerian, Moroccan.
Support Follow Afrik-News on Google News