Observational studyBMJ open2018
Assessing the chronic respiratory health risk associated with inhalation exposure to powdered toner for printing in actual working conditions: a cohort study on occupationally exposed workers over 10 years.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-term occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds and progressive pulmonary function decline: a 5-year cohort study in the printing industry.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Challenges in Diagnosing Occupational Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Review
- Effects of toner-handling work on respiratory function, chest X-ray findings, and biomarkers of inflammation, allergy, and oxidative stress: a 10-year prospective Japanese cohort study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2020Article
- Environmental triggers for chronic cough.Asia Pacific allergy · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLittle epidemiological evidence exists regarding the chronic respiratory effects of inhaled powdered toner exposure in humans, although several case reports have suggested the existence of lung disorders that might be related to exposure to toner dust.
objectiveWe aimed to estimate the chronic health risk to humans associated with routine toner dust exposure in copier industry workers under current actual work conditions.
designA prospective observational cohort study of occupational population.
methodsChanges in chest radiogram, spirometry measurements and serum and urine biomarkers of biomedical responses to extrinsic stress, as well as subjective symptoms were longitudinally observed for up to 10 years in Japanese copier industry workers responsible for the manufacturing, maintenance or recycling of powdered toner or toner-using machines. A total of 694 subjects who did not change their work category during the follow-up and were free from chronic respiratory diseases at the baseline survey provided reliable results on at least three survey occasions during 3 years or more of follow-up.
resultsTypical fibrosis findings associated with pneumoconiosis was not observed on chest radiograms. No significant differences associated with toner exposure were noted in the frequency of new incidence of either non-specific findings on chest radiogram or serum fibrosis biomarkers (sialylated carbohydrate antigen KL-6 and surfactant protein D). However, the exposed subjects tended to show increases in the frequency of respiratory symptoms and reduced spirometry results during the follow-up compared with the control group, although significant differences were only seen in chronic cough.
conclusionsUnder the current reasonably controlled work environmental conditions, lung fibrotic changes caused by inhaled dust exposure, including powdered toner, appear to be relatively uncommon; however, non-specific temporal irritation causing subjective symptoms and inflammatory responses might exist.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.