Abstract Objective: To assess the effect of exposure to flour dust on respiratory symptoms and
lung function of flour mill workers and to estimate the additive effect of smoking on pulmonary
function.
Patients and methods: This study was carried out at flour mills in Sohag Governorate. Two hundred
male workers with current exposure to flour dust and two hundred non-exposed male as a control
group were interviewed and self designed study questionnaire was administered to them and the
parameters of their pulmonary function were measured.
Results: Respiratory symptoms such as cough, expectoration, wheezing, and shortness of breath,
were significantly (p< 0.0001) higher among exposed workers as compared to unexposed. Furthermore
highly significant (p< 0.0001) decrements in the pulmonary function of exposed subjects were
noted. Moreover, a highly significant decline in FEV1%, FVC% and FEV1/FVC% was noticed
regarding the duration of exposure to flour dust (p