Self-reported exposure to dust and diesel exhaust, respiratory symptoms, and use of respiratory protective equipment among Arctic miners

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the miners in Sweden, Finland, and Norway.

Characteristics	Total	Sweden	Finland	Norway	P value
Age, mean (SD)	449	39.9 (11.5)	35.7 (10.1)	41.8 (12.8)	<0.01
Males, n (%)	339	96 (62.8)	162 (81.4)	81 (81.8)	<0.01
Females, n (%)	112	57 (37.3)	37 (18.6)	18 (18.2)
BMI	404				0.04
Normal – underweight, n (%)	144	46 (41.8)	72 (36.4)	26 (27.1)
Overweight, n (%)	173	50 (45.5)	78 (39.4)	45 (46.9)
Obese, n (%)	87	14 (12.7)	48 (24.2)	25 (26)
Year of school completed, mean (SD)	440	11.8 (4.5)	8.9 (3.7)	11.8 (2.7)	<0.01
Daily smoking	121	21 (13.9)	67 (33.7)	33 (34.4)	<0.01
Exposure to diesel exhaust	209	124 (84.4)	85 (43.2)	46 (46.5)	<0.01
Exposure to dust	294	136 (91.3)	158 (79.8)	75 (82.4)	<0.01
If exposed to dust, are you using local exhaust equipment?					<0.01
Never/sometimes	256	124 (91.9)	60 (49.6)	72 (81.8)
Often/always	88	11 (8.2)	61 (50.4)	16 (18.2)
If exposed to dust, are you using PPE?					<0.01
Never/sometimes	195	69 (51.5)	54 (39.1)	72 (80.9)
Often/always	166	65 (48.5)	84 (60.9)	17 (19.1)
Airway symptoms
Persistent or chronic cough	447	25 (16.3)	27 (13.9)	11 (11.1)	NS
Mucus	447	32 (20.9)	42 (21.5)	28 (28.3)	NS
Nasal symptoms	445	76 (50.3)	118 (60.5)	58 (58.6)	NS
Wheezing in the chest	446	30 (19.6)	39 (20.1)	28 (28.3)
Respiratory symptoms (at least one of the above)	449	93 (60.8)	125 (63.5)	68 (68.7)	NS
COPD		NA	1 (0.5)	0 (0.0)	NS
Asthma		NA	19 (9.7)	12 (12.1)	NS

Table 2. Characteristics of the use of personal protective equipment and training according to the country.

Variable	Total		Total n (%)	Sweden n (%)	Finland n (%)	Norway n (%)
Use of half mask	378	Never/sometimes	338 (89.4)	129 (97)	135 (79.4)	74 (98.7)
		Often/always	40 (10.6)	4 (3)	35 (20.6)	1 (1.3)
Use of full mask	371	Never/sometimes	344 (92.7)	127 (95.5)	143 (87.7)	74 (98.7)
		Often/always	27 (7.3)	6 (4.5)	20 (12.3)	1 (1.3)
Experience of problems with compatibility between different protective equipment	425	Never/sometimes	383 (90.1)	144 (97.3)	152 (81.7)	87 (95.6)
		Often	42 (9.9)	4 (2.7)	34 (18.3)	4 (4.4)
Taking off personal protective equipment (PPE) while working	421	Never/sometimes	361 (85.8)	114 (77)	162 (88)	85 (95.5)
		Often	60 (14.3)	34 (23)	22 (12)	4 (4.5)
Reasons for taking off PPE:
To discuss with the others	271	Never/sometimes	195 (72)	75 (72.8)	73 (62.9)	47 (90.4)
		Often/always	76 (28)	28 (27.2)	43 (37.1)	5 (9.6)
To listen to what happens around	229	Never/sometimes	192 (83.8)	72 (85.7)	77 (80.2)	43 (87.8)
		Often/always	37 (16.2)	12 (14.3)	19 (19.8)	6 (12.2)
Due to pressure or skin irritation	238	Never/sometimes	194 (81.5)	73 (83.9)	76 (77.6)	45 (84.9)
		Often/always	44 (18.5)	14 (16.1)	22 (22.5)	8 (15.1)
Since PPE limits visibility	262	Never/sometimes	191 (72.9)	76 (91.6)	77 (65.3)	38 (62.3)
		Often/always	71 (27.1)	7 (8.4)	41 (34.8)	23 (37.7)
Since PPE are wet or foggy	275	Never/sometimes	188 (68.4)	78 (95.1)	62 (51.7)	48 (65.8)
		Often/always	87 (31.6)	4 (4.9)	58 (48.3)	25 (34.3)
Having a clean place to store PPE?	419	No	91 (21.7)	16 (11)	66 (36.5)	9 (9.8)
		Yes	328 (78.3)	130 (89)	115 (63.5)	83 (90.2)
Having been trained to use PPE?	422	No	99 (23.5)	25 (16.9)	66 (36.3)	8 (8.7)
		Yes	323 (76.5)	123 (83.1)	116 (63.7)	84 (91.3)
Having been trained to maintain PPE?	421	No	203 (48.2)	63 (42.6)	107 (58.8)	33 (36.3)
		Yes	218 (51.8)	85 (57.4)	75 (41.2)	58 (63.7)

Table 3. Association between reported exposure to dust and the respiratory symptoms. The estimates are presented as odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals.

Occurrence of symptoms	Unadjusted	Model 1*	Model 2**
Any respiratory symptom	2.2 (1.3–3.7)	2.7 (1.5–5)	3.1 (1.5–6.2)
Wheezing	3.9 (1.5–9.9)	3.7 (1.4–9.9)	4.1 (1.1–14.9)
Cough	6.2 (1.5–26.0)	13.4 (1.8–102.3)	8.6 (1.1–69.3)
Mucus	2.9 (1.3–6.5)	3.4 (1.4–8.5)	3.1 (1.1–8.3)
Nasal Symptoms	1.9 (1.1–3.2)	2.1 (1.2–3.8)	2.7 (1.4–5.4)

*Adjusted for age, gender, BMI, and daily smoking.

**Adjusted for age, gender, BMI, daily smoking, and asthma.

Table 4. The association between reported exposure to diesel exhaust of miners on their respiratory symptoms. The estimates are presented as odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals.

Occurrence of symptoms	Unadjusted	Model 1*	Model 2**
Any respiratory symptom	1.2 (0.8–1.7)	1.3 (0.9–2.0)	1.3 (0.7–2.1)
Wheezing	1.7 (1–3.0)	1.8 (1.0–3.6)	2.6 (1.3–5.4)
Cough	1.7 (0.9–3.0)	1.9 (0.9–3.5)	1.9 (0.9–4.1)
Mucus	1.2 (0.8–1.9)	1.3 (0.8–2.0)	1.2 (0.7–2.4)
Nasal Symptoms	1 (0.7–1.5)	1.1 (0.7–1.7)	1.1 (0.6–1.8)

*Adjusted for age, gender, BMI, and daily smoking.

**Adjusted for age, gender, BMI, daily smoking, and asthma.

Data availability statement

The dataset used during the current study can be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.