Skip to main content
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1963 Jul;20(3):226–230. doi: 10.1136/oem.20.3.226

Pneumoconiosis in China-Clay Workers

S Warraki 1, Y Herant 1
PMCID: PMC1039204  PMID: 14046160

Abstract

A 70 mm. radiographic survey in 914 workmen exposed to china-clay dust was made in 1959 in an industrial plant in which kaolin deposits are processed for the earthenware industry in Ayyat, United Arab Republic. All were ex-agricultural workers and thus not exposed to any industrial dust hazards.

The purpose of the survey was to study the prevalence of pneumoconiosis and active tuberculosis. Fifty subjects were considered to require further investigation and large films were therefore taken which showed the following results: five cases of pneumoconiosis; one case of pneumoconiosis and tuberculosis; and 13 cases of active tuberculosis. Of the five pneumoconiosis cases, two were classified as progressive massive fibrosis (P.M.F.), two as category 3 and one as category 1 simple pneumoconiosis. All had been heavily exposed for 15 years or more.

Case records of the pneumoconiosis group are given with follow-up observations for two and a half years. There were no important clinical or radiographic changes except that one of the two patients with P.M.F. died of cor pulmonale. Correlation of the clinical features and radiographic abnormalities was poor. The low prevalence of pneumoconiosis, in spite of the heavy and prolonged exposure, is emphasized. A sample of the airborne dust contained about 2% of SiO2.

Full text

PDF
226

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BARTH G., FRIK W., SCHEIDEMANDEL H. Die Aluminiumlunge; Verlaufsbeobachtungen und Neuerkrankungen in der Nachkriegszeit. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 1956 Jul 13;81(28):1115-9, passim. doi: 10.1055/s-0028-1115078. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. GEHER F. Bei der Aluminiumherstellung auftretende Lungenveränderungen. Fortschr Geb Rontgenstr. 1955 May;82(5):598–604. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. GOUGH J., HALE L. W., KING E. J., NAGELSCHMIDT G. Pneumoconiosis of kaolin workers. Br J Ind Med. 1956 Oct;13(4):251–259. doi: 10.1136/oem.13.4.251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HIGGINS I. T., COCHRANE A. L. Chronic respiratory disease in a random sample of men and women in the Rhondda Fach in 1958. Br J Ind Med. 1961 Apr;18:93–102. doi: 10.1136/oem.18.2.93. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KILPATRICK G. S., HEPPLESTON A. G., FLETCHER C. M. Cavitation in the massive fibrosis of coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. Thorax. 1954 Dec;9(4):260–272. doi: 10.1136/thx.9.4.260. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. LYNCH K. M., McIVER F. A. Pneumoconiosis from exposure to kaolin dust kaolinosis. Am J Pathol. 1954 Nov-Dec;30(6):1117–1127. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES