Sweepers are chronically exposed to dust raised during sweeping. Dust is regarded as the most influential agent and it is perceived as a frequent cause of respiratory system illness and may cause acute and chronic lung function impairment. The aim of this study was to determine the acute lung function changes in sweepers exposed to dust generated from street sweeping. This study was conducted in central Karnataka, India, on 25 female sweepers and 25 healthy female control subjects who were comparable in age, height and weight. The pulmonary function test was performed in controls, sweepers before and after sweeping, by using RMS medspiror and results were compared by Student's unpaired 't' test. The results showed a significant reduction in percent predicted values and mean values of FVC, FEV1, PEFR, FEF25-75% and FEF 200-1200 between sweepers and their matched controls. Pulmonary function after sweeping also showed a significant decrease. On comparing the pulmonary functions of sweepers before and after sweeping, it was concluded that inhalation of dust acutely affected the lung function of sweepers in India and that sweepers were at a risk of developing occupation related lung function impairment. We recommend that the workers should use protective face masks and do wet sweeping instead of dry sweeping during sweeping activity.
