Pulmonary dysfunctions, oxidative stress and DNA damage in brick kiln workers

Brick kilns in the suburban areas in developing countries pose a big threat to the environment and hence the health of their workers and people residing around them. The present study was planned to assess the lung functions, oxidative stress parameters and DNA damage in brick kiln workers. A total of 31 male subjects working in brick kiln, and 32 age, sex and socioeconomic status matched controls were included in the study. The lung volumes, capacities and flow rates, namely, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, expiratory reserve volume, inspiratory capacity (IC), maximal expiratory flow when 50% of FVC is remaining to be expired, maximum voluntary ventilation, peak expiratory flow rate and vital capacity were significantly decreased in the brick kiln workers. Increased oxidative stress as evidenced by increased malonedialdehyde levels and reduced glutathione content, glutathione S-transferase activity and ferric reducing ability of plasma were observed in the study group when compared with controls. Our results indicate a significant correlation between oxidative stress parameters and pulmonary dysfunction, which may be due to silica-induced oxidative stress and resulting lung damage.