Cotton Dust Exposure and Respiratory Disorders among Textile Workers at a Textile Company in the Southern Part of Benin

Antoine Vikkey Hinson, Virgil K. Lokossou, Vivi Schlünssen, Gildas Agodokpessi, Torben Sigsgaard and Benjamin Fayomi
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Antoine Vikkey Hinson: Unit of Teaching and Research in Occupational Health and Environment, Faculty of Sciences of the Health, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, 01 PO 188 Cotonou, Benin
Virgil K. Lokossou: Unit of Teaching and Research in Occupational Health and Environment, Faculty of Sciences of the Health, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, 01 PO 188 Cotonou, Benin
Vivi Schlünssen: Section for Environment, Occupation and Health, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University Denmark, Nordre Ringgade 1, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Gildas Agodokpessi: Unité D’enseignement et de Recherche en Pneumo-Phtisiologie, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Abomey Calavi, 01 PO 321 Cotonou, Benin
Torben Sigsgaard: Section for Environment, Occupation and Health, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University Denmark, Nordre Ringgade 1, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Benjamin Fayomi: Unit of Teaching and Research in Occupational Health and Environment, Faculty of Sciences of the Health, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, 01 PO 188 Cotonou, Benin

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The textile industry sector occupies a prominent place in the economy of Benin. It exposes workers to several occupational risks, including exposure to cotton dust. To assess the effect of exposure to cotton dust on the health of workers, this study was initiated and conducted in a Beninese cotton industry company. The objective of the study was to evaluate the respiratory disorders among the textile workers exposed to cotton dust and the cross-sectional study involved 656 subjects exposed to cotton dust and 113 non-exposed subjects. The methods used are mainly based on a survey using a questionnaire of organic dust designed by the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH); and on the measures of lung function parameters (FEV 1 and FVC). The main results of the different analyzes revealed that subjects exposed to cotton dust have more respiratory symptoms than unexposed subjects (36.9% vs. 21.2%). The prevalence of chronic cough, expectorations, dyspnoea, asthma and chronic bronchitis are 16.8%, 9.8%, 17.3%, 2.6%, and 5.9% respectively among the exposed versus 2.6%, 0.8%, 16.8%, 0% and 0.8% among the unexposed subjects. The prevalence of byssinosis is 44.01%.The prevalence of symptoms is dependent on the sector of activity and the age of the subject. These results should encourage medical interventions and technical prevention especially since the textile industry occupies an important place in the Benin’s economy.

Keywords: respiratory disorders; cotton dust; byssinosis; FEV 1; FVC; Benin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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