Full blood count and some haemorheologic variables of vendors exposed to liquefied petroleum (cooking) gas: a comparative study

Abstract 

Introduction: Cooking gas in the form of liquefied petroleum gas is sold in gas stations and outlets by vendors who do not use personal protective equipment despite working in a high-risk environment hence they have a high exposure to inhalation of the chemicals in the gas. This study assessed the full blood count and haemorheologic variables of vendors exposed to liquefied petroleum gas. Methods: Forty gas vendors were enrolled from four gas stations in Calabar while forty apparently healthy individuals who do not work in gas-related jobs were recruited as control. Ethical approval was granted by the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Calabar. Permission to enroll workers was obtained from the management of gas stations while study subjects gave informed consent. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain demographic information and health history while blood pressure, weight and height were measured using standard instruments; the body mass index was calculated. The full blood count and haemorheologic variables were determined by standard methods. Data analysis was done using a student t-test on SPSS version 21 and a P value ≤0.05 was considered significant. 

Results: The mean age was 25.9±3.2 years and 26.5±6.5 years for the test and control groups with gas vendors being predominantly males (97.5%). Work duration of 97.5% of gas vendors was ≤5 years. Sixty percent of the control and 42.5% of the gas vendors engaged in regular exercise while 40% and 57.5% do not. Sixty-seven–point five percent (67.5%) of the control rarely go for medical checks and 27.5% had never had a medical check with only 2% who check often. For the gas vendors, 55% have never had a medical check while 45% of them rarely check. Also, 42.5% of the control have never or rarely checked their blood pressure while 15% check often; 62.5% of the gas vendors have never checked their blood pressure while 37.5% rarely check. There was a family history of hypertension for 2 (5%) of the control and none for the test group.