Results of study of state of pharynx and larynx in aluminum production workers depending on length of service

Abstract

In the article, the author presented the results of a study of the state of the pharynx and larynx in workers of the aluminum production, depending on the length of service. The most toxic of the fluorine compounds is hydrogen fluoride, which, in addition to general toxic effects, has a local effect on the body, characterized by a predominant lesion of the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract. Almost all hydrogen fluoride inhaled with air is retained in the upper respiratory tract. This is one of the important reasons for the violation of the condition of the pharynx and larynx. Of the total number of workers examined, 578 workers showed changes in the state of the pharynx and in 125 the state of the larynx. All surveyed were divided depending on the duration of work experience. The huge number of those surveyed for certain age groups, which exceeds more than 100 people, gives grounds to consider the revealed results sufficiently reliable to determine the volume of the affected population in the studied contingent and allows, quite reasonably, to analyze the age and experience dynamics of the lesion. The materials obtained showed that the weakening of the protective functions of the epithelium of the nasal cavity makes the mucous membrane of the pharynx and larynx more sensitive to harmful factors of the working environment, prolonged exposure to harmful industrial factors, such as a significant concentration of dust and various chemical compounds cause deeper damage to the mucous membrane of the pharynx and larynx and damage the upper respiratory tract becomes descending.