Turkish Respiratory Journal, vol.8, no.2, pp.44-47, 2007 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Objective: This research was carried out to investigate the respiratory
effects of the stack emissions of the Yatagan coal-fired thermal power
plant in the Mugla Province of Turkey. Methods: The village that is
located within 5 km around the power plant was investigated as the
power plant village. Three similar villages those were located more
than 30 km away from the thermal power plant were investigated as
control villages. The study design was based on the comparison of
the spirometric parameters of the individuals living in the two different
village groups. The study was carried out on individuals who are age
15 and older and living in these villages. Results: The spirometric parameters of the residents of the village around power plant were found
to be significantly worsened as compared to the residents of the control villages (p<0.05). The never-smokers of the control villages were
found to have the best spirometric results and also they had statistically significantly better spirometric findings than never-smokers of the
village around the plant (p<0.05); whereas no statistically significant
differences of the spirometric measurements of current smokers were
observed between the two groups of villages (p>0.05). Conclusion:
The spirometric findings suggest that living within the vicinity of a coal
fired thermal power plant could result in obstructive lung disease.
Keywords: environmental health, respiratory eff ect, coal-fi red thermal
power plant, spirometry