ACOEM offers CME for reading selected articles in our peer-reviewed Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM). One (1) credit can be earned per article.
Earning Credit
To earn credits, you must have an active individual subscription to JOEM for the issue in which the ACOEM Online CME course is offered. The CME activity itself must not be expired.
About the Article
Objectives:
This study aimed to examine the effects of chronic exposure to organic solvents on lung function in a shipyard painters.
Methods:
Male workers in the shipyard painting department were selected as the organic solvents exposure group. Exposure was classified according to the type of work usually performed, and the cumulative exposure index was obtained using the results of biological monitoring. These were then used to divide the exposure group into low-exposure and high-exposure groups, and the dose–response relationships were examined for decreased lung function. For ventilation indices, we obtained the forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), the FEV1/FVC ratio, and the maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMF) from the forced expiratory flow-volume curve and also calculated these as percentages of the predicted values.
Results:
FVC and FEV1 showed no significant differences among the control, and low-exposure and high-exposure groups, but FEV1 as a percentage of its predicted value (%FEV1) decreased with increasing exposure at 90.0%, 90.9%, and 90.0% in the control, low-exposure, and high-exposure groups, respectively. MMF% predicted also decreased significantly at 98.5%, 90.1%, and 88.4% in the control, low-exposure, and high-exposure group, respectively, indicating that workers exposed to organic solvents showed obstructive respiratory disease.
Conclusion:
Exposure to organic solvents is associated with obstructive pulmonary dysfunction rather than restrictive pulmonary dysfunction.
Accessing the Online Exam
After reading the article referenced in the title of this product and purchasing this CME product, navigate to ACOEM Connect. Select "Education>Access My Online Learning" to complete the online exam and evaluation.
You will have unlimited opportunities to pass the exam to earn CME credit for each article. You may also claim MOC credit.
Credits offered
• 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit TM
• 1 ABPM Maintenance of Certification credit
Expiration Date
This activity expires on December 31, 2021. Claiming must be completed before then to earn credit.