Exposure to construction dust can cause kidney disease: Study

Exposure to dust and other particles may put construction workers at increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease, according to a study published Wednesday.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg found that Swedish construction workers studied over five decades had a 15% higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease.

The researchers noted that other recent expert studies showed that air pollution particles from sources such as industry and vehicle exhaust also increased the chances of developing chronic kidney disease.

The study, which was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicineexamined data from more than 280,000 construction workers who participated in health surveys between 1971 and 1993.

The researchers said the risk could be mitigated by developing improvements to workplace emissions and stressing to construction workers the importance of using personal protective equipment.

“Given the substantial disease burden and costly treatment of CKD, this has large public health implications and warrants additional efforts to reduce exposure to occupational and ambient particulate matter,” the researchers wrote.

They plan to study the link between exposure to dust and particulate matter and chronic kidney disease in other occupational groups.