Occupational Ventilatory Defects Among Workers Employed in Tea Gardens, A Cross-Sectional Study in Siliguri Subdivision of Darjeeling District, West Bengal

INTRODUCTION: During the refining and packing of tea, a very fine dust is formed which is called the tea fluff. Exposure to this fluff has been reported to cause ventilatory defects on chronic exposure. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between air quality of the different work sections of tea gardens and the ventilatory functions of the workers. METHODOLOGY: An observational analytical study with cross sectional design was conducted on 400 apparently healthy individuals working in different sections of 4 tea gardens. Data on sociodemographic characters of the population, particulate matter (PM) and air quality (AQI) was recorded. All participants underwent spirometric evaluation. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the study population was 37.8 (8) years. Most (67%) of the study participants were females. The participants were engaged in the job for a mean (SD) of 4.7 (2.7) years. The median distribution of PM2.5, PM 10 and AQI are progressively higher from the garden section to the dry section. A significant correlation between FVC and PM2.5 and PM10 is seen. FEV1 and FEV1/FVC shows a significant correlation with all air quality parameters while FEF25-75 is correlated to none of them. Comparison of the three models to predict the spirometric variables show that even after adjustments, the FEV1 is significantly associated with air quality parameters, FEV1/FVC is significantly associated with the air quality parameters and age while the FEF25-75% is dependent on the age of the participant. CONCLUSION: There is a strong correlation between the ventilatory parameters and the cumulative exposure of PM2.5, PM10 and AQI, which persists even after adjustment for confounders.