Evaluation of health status for inhabitants of the protected zone near a steel mill. III. Occurrence of pulmonary emphysema
Kolarzyk, E.; Kieć, E.; Stepniewski, M.; Targosz, D.; Gałuszka, Z.
Folia Medica Cracoviensia 31(4): 127-134
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0015-5616 PMID: 2135882 Document Number: 364645
In the groups of 232 inhabitants of the protective zone of Steel-Mill Nowa Huta in Kraków (181 women and 51 men) and 137 inhabitants of Tokarnia village, located appx 60 km from Kraków, far from industrial emitters of chemical and physical pollutants (100 women and 37 men), frequency of occurrence of emphysema was estimated. Diagnosis of that disease was based on clinical signs and symptoms, as well as on values of RV%TLC. It was shown that despite similar values of arithmetic mean, mode and median of RV%TLC in both groups, standardised curves representing normal distribution of this parameter were displaced toward higher pathological values in both sexes, inhabitants of the protective zone. Higher frequency of incidence of emphysema in the groups living in the protective zone could be connected with gaseous and dust pollutants present in the atmosphere.