BACKGROUND: Medical screening programs were begun in 1996 and 1997 at three Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons facilities (Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Oak Ridge, and the Savannah River Site) to evaluate whether current and former construction workers are at significant risk for @entity3675 . The focus of this report is @entity3673 associated with exposures to @entity1355 and @entity3440 among workers enrolled in the screening programs through September 30, 2001. METHODS: Workers provided a detailed work and exposure history and underwent a respiratory examination, which included a respiratory history and symptom questionnaire, a posterior-anterior (P-A) chest radiograph, and spirometry. Both stratified and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore the risk of disease by duration of DOE employment and frequency of exposure, while controlling for potential confounders such as age, race, sex, and other work in the construction and building trades. RESULTS: Of the 2602 workers, 25.2% showed one or more chest X-ray changes by ILO criteria and 42.7% demonstrated one or more pulmonary function defects. The overall prevalence of parenchymal changes by ILO criteria (profusion 1/0 or greater) was 5.4%. In the logistic regression models, the odds ratio for parenchymal disease was 2.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.0-6.6) for workers employed 6 to 20 years at Hanford or Savannah River and increased to 3.6 (95% CI = 1.1-11.6) for workers employed more than 35 years, with additional incremental risks for workers reporting routine exposures to @entity1355 or @entity3440 . CONCLUSIONS: Continued surveillance of workers is important given their increased risk of disease progression and their risk for @entity1355 related @entity5 . Smoking cessation programs should also be high priority and continued abstinence for former smokers reinforced. Although the observed @entity1576 patterns are largely reflective of past exposures, these findings suggest that DOE needs to continue to review industrial hygiene control programs for work tasks involving maintenance, repair, renovation, and demolition.

Surveillance of XXXX among construction and trade workers at Department of Energy nuclear sites.

@entity3675 :: ('MESH:D009784', 'Disease') :: ['occupational illnesses'] @entity3673 :: ('MESH:D011009', 'Disease') :: ['pneumoconiosis'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['malignancies'] @entity1576 :: ('MESH:D012131', 'Disease') :: ['respiratory disease'] @entity3440 :: ('MESH:D012822', 'Chemical') :: ['silica'] @entity1355 :: ('MESH:D001195', 'Disease') :: ['asbestos']
@entity1576 :: (MESH:D012131,Disease) :: ['respiratory diseases']
