Insulators in Alberta at higher risk of chest infections, COPD.

[2greys]

Construction workers in Alberta who work with hazardous insulation materials are much more likely to be affected by repeated chest infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to new research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The study followed 990 insulators over six years. Participants underwent regular pulmonary function tests and chest radiography throughout the study. Researchers found 46 per cent of the workers had one or more chest infections over a three-year time span and 16 per cent of insulators who were exposed to asbestos were diagnosed with COPD—a disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs.

“In the past, physicians have tried to advocate for compensation benefits to insulators who were declined because of a background of cigarette smoking,” said Paige Lacy, professor of medicine at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and director of research at the Alberta Respiratory Centre. “This study shows that incidence of COPD and recurrent chest infections is independent of cigarette smoking and demonstrates that hazardous materials really are having an effect on the health of insulators.”

ualberta.ca/folio/2020/11/i...

[Jaybird19]

Also all that glassfibre insulation not just asbestos. . My BB worked for well known firm for years.

[Snackjack]

Sounds like it needs to be taken more seriously. Good read.

[Alberta56]

Sounds like the authorities have been ignoring the dangers for years instead of doing something about them.

[2greys in reply to Alberta56]

The lungs evolved to do one job, exchange co2 for oxygen. Anything else other than clean air going into the lungs is detrimental to health.

It can be as simple as dusts, from agriculture like hay making, dust from roads. Smoke from any type of combustion, from internal combustion engines to domestic fires. Fibres, from the rag trade. Four mills/bakeries. Chemical fumes and gases. Smoking and vaping. The list is endless.

If it is not clean, fresh air it should not be going into the lungs.

[Alberta56]

I quite agree. Unfortunately we humans have evolved in a way that makes it inevitable that we hurt ourselves and others.