| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 環境醫學研究所 === 92 === Tea is a popular beverage all over the world. Respiratory symptoms have been reported in workers of the late stage of tea production, but the early stage of production has very different characteristics. In order to evaluate its respiratory effects, we conducted a study on 91 tea workers engaged in the early tea manufacturing processes in the Mountain Ali area in Taiwan and 32 local office workers matched for age, height, weight, and smoking habits. In addition to questionnaires and pulmonary function tests, we performed skin prick tests for common allergens and tea, measured specific IgE for tea, and assessed tea dust exposures. We found tea workers had higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms than office workers, but the differences were not statistically significant. Amongst tea workers, ball rolling workers had the highest prevalence of symptoms and the highest level of inhalable dusts. Sensitization to tea was noted in only one tea worker. The differences of pulmonary functions between tea and office workers were not statistically significant, but ball rolling workers had the poorest 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), FEV1/FVC (forced vital capacity) and maximal mid-expiratory flow rate (MMF). We observed a significant decline of pulmonary function during the work, especially in ball rolling workers. Multiple regression analyses showed that age, height, and ball rolling were significant predictors of pulmonary function. Appropriate preventive or control measures should be adopted. Further studies are warranted to evaluate whether the control of tea dust exposures may reduce respiratory symptoms and the decline in pulmonary function.
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