Abstract |
At different stages in the complex process of titanium production various chemically active compounds are given off, which affect the human organism, entering through the respiratory tracts. On the basis of data from a mass examination of workers in titanium production plants, sharp and chronic pathology of the otolaryngological organs was discovered. For all the groups of patients with the first stage of changes in the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tracts, catarrhal inflamation in different stages of the illness was noted. It was observed that workers had functional displacements in the mucus of the upper respiratory tracts, expressed by complaints of various unpleasant sensations in the nose and throat and in swallowing, a lowering of the senses of smell and taste, and in changes in objective indicators, such as the ability to breathe through the nose, and the reflex, secretory, olfactory and excretory functions of the mucous membrane. |