摘要 : Exposure to smoke caused by biomass combustion has been reported as one of the main causes of chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in nonsmokers living in rural villages. Beekeepers use the smoke of ... 展开 Exposure to smoke caused by biomass combustion has been reported as one of the main causes of chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in nonsmokers living in rural villages. Beekeepers use the smoke of plant materials burned in a bee smoker having bellows for the purpose of calming bees and reducing stings. Thus they are exposed to biomass smoke inhalation periodically while controlling bee colonies in Turkey. To investigate if exposure to smoke is a potential risk factor for obstructive airway disease among beekeepers, an interview was conducted and a pulmonary function test was performed on 34 beekeepers and 25 age-matched control subjects. Respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sputum and breathing difficulty as well as pulmonary function tests were not different in beekeepers from control subjects for each smoking and non-smoking group (P > 0.05). On the other hand, either beekeepers or control subjects showed decreased lung function and increased respiratory symptoms in smokers compared to non-smokers (P < 0.05). In contrast to early reports, there seems to be a lower risk for chronic bronchitis from biomass smoke inhalation in our study. We suggest that less intense and short periods of smoke use in addition to outdoor exposure to biomass smoke in beekeepers may be a factor of lower risk for chronic bronchitis. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine if biomass smoke inhalation in beekeepers are causing long-term chronic effects. 收起