Table 2 Baseline characteristics of high-concentration and low-concentration toner-exposure groups
Parameters (unit) | High-concentration toner exposure group | Low-concentration toner exposure group | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n = 49 | n = 838 | ||||
M (SD)/% | M (SD)/% | ||||
Age (years) | 36.8 | (8.3) | 38.8 | (7.0) | 0.100 |
BMI (kg/m2) | 22.9 | (2.4) | 23.4 | (3.0) | 0.294 |
Current smoker | 53.1% | 51.1% | 0.883 | ||
Prevalence of respiratory diseases (%) | |||||
 Asthma | 12.2% | 9.3% | 0.453 | ||
 Allergic rhinitis | 59.2% | 50.6% | 0.303 | ||
 Allergic dermatitis | 26.5% | 20.5% | 0.364 | ||
 Pneumonia | 2.7% | 0.4% | 0.204 | ||
 Sinusitis | 2.0% | 2.7% | 1.00 | ||
Ratio of workers handling harmful substances (%) | |||||
 Workers handling dust other than toner | 4.1% | 2.9% | 0.650 | ||
 Workers handling organic solvent | 32.7% | 25.9% | 0.317 | ||
Respiratory function test indicators | |||||
 VC (l) | 4.3 | (0.7) | 4.2 | (0.6) | 0.459 |
 %VC (%) | 93.0 | (10.3) | 92.4 | (10.7) | 0.695 |
 FEV1 (l) | 3.5 | (0.5) | 3.5 | (0.5) | 0.345 |
 %FEV1 (%) | 95.1 | (10.3) | 95.0 | (11.2) | 0.935 |
 FEV1/FVC (%) | 83.6 | (5.8) | 83.0 | (5.9) | 0.491 |
 %FEV1/FVC (%) | 100.1 | (6.7) | 100.1 | (6.9) | 0.975 |
 V25 (l/s) | 1.7 | (0.5) | 1.6 | (0.5) | 0.244 |
 %V25 (%) | 71.2 | (19.7) | 68.1 | (19.9) | 0.481 |
Biomarkers | |||||
 CRP (mg/dl) | 0.07 | (0.11) | 0.09 | (0.19) | 0.322 |
 IgE (IU/ml) | 198.2 | (274.4) | 201.9 | (386.4) | 0.953 |
 IL-4 (pg/ml) | 19.1 | (19.2) | 19.2 | (29.9) | 0.981 |
 IL-6 (pg/ml) | 1.15 | (0.86) | 1.37 | (3.25) | 0.674 |
 IL-8 (pg/ml) | 3.78 | (17.85) | 2.85 | (20.07) | 0.773 |
 IFN-γ (IU/ml) | 0.08 | (0.07) | 0.11 | (0.13) | < 0.001 |
 8-OHdG/Creatinine (ng/mg) | 3.98 | (1.64) | 3.80 | (1.52) | 0.738 |