Chronic respiratory diseases and respiratory symptoms after a mining dam rupture: Brumadinho Health Project

Campos, Flávia Cristina; Nascimento-Souza, Mary Anne; Monteiro, Cristiane Campos; Firmo, Josélia Oliveira Araújo; Souza Júnior, Paulo Roberto Borges de; Peixoto, Sérgio Viana

doi:10.1590/1980-549720220009.supl.2

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Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia

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Original Article • Rev. bras. Epidemiol. 25 (Supl 2) • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-549720220009.supl.2 copy

Chronic respiratory diseases and respiratory symptoms after a mining dam rupture: Brumadinho Health Project

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT:

Objective:

To identify factors associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and respiratory symptoms, in Brumadinho, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, after a dam rupture.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study, including a representative sample of adults (aged 18 years and over) in the municipality. Associations were assessed between dependent variables (medical diagnosis of asthma and COPD; symptoms of wheezing, dry cough, and nose irritation) and exploratory variables (sex, age group, smoking habit, having worked at Vale S.A. company before the dam rupture, time and area of residence in relation to the dam rupture). Logistic regression models with odds ratio (OR) calculation and 95% confidence interval were used.

Results:

We identified a prevalence of 7.2% of asthma; 3.5% of COPD; 8.8% of wheezing; 23.6% of dry cough; and 31.8% of nose irritation. We observed a greater chance of asthma among women and residents in the affected and mining regions, while a greater chance of COPD was observed in smokers and in those with longer time of residence in the municipality. Among the symptoms, we verified a higher chance of nose irritation among women, while a higher chance of wheezing and dry cough were found among smokers (current and former). Residents of regions affected by the mud reported a greater chance of presenting all the analyzed symptoms. Conversely, level of education was negatively associated with wheezing and dry cough.

Conclusion:

We found respiratory changes and identified the groups most vulnerable to developing them, which could contribute to directing actions to reduce the population’s respiratory problems.

Keywords:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Asthma; Epidemiology; Disaster; Mining

Variables		Total
Sex
	Man	42.9
	Woman	57.1
Age group (years)
	18–24	11.4
	25–39	21.9
	40–59	36.1
	60 or over	30.6
Level of education
	Some elementary school	19.4
	Elementary school	17.7
	Middle school	16.4
	High school	28.9
	Higher education or more	17.6
Smoking habit
	Has never smoked	66.1
	Former smoker	17.5
	Current smoker	16.4
Has worked at Vale S.A. before the dam rupture
	No	89.2
	Yes	10.8
Time of residence in the municipality (years)
	1^st tertile (≤13)	33.7
	2^nd tertile (14–33)	34.3
	3^rd tertile (≥34)	32.0
Area of residence in relation to the dam rupture
	Sample from other regions	95.5
	Directly affected by the mud	2.9
	Mining area	1.6

Variables		Asthma		COPD
Variables		Crude OD (95%CI)	Adjusted OD (95%CI)	Crude OD (95%CI)	Adjusted OD (95%CI)
Sex
	Man	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Woman	2.1 (1.3–3.4)	2.4 (1.4–3.9)	0.9 (0.5–1.9)	1.0 (0.5–2.2)
Age group (years)
	18–24	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–39	0.8 (0.4–1.7)	0.9 (0.4–2.0)	0.5 (0.1–2.2)	0.6 (0.2–2.5)
	40–59	0.6 (0.3–1.2)	0.9 (0.4–1.9)	0.6 (0.2–2.5)	0.6 (0.1–2.3)
	60 or over	0.8 (0.4–1.7)	1.2 (0.5–3.0)	1.3 (0.3–4.7)	1.1 (0.3–4.4)
Level of education
	Some elementary school	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Elementary school	1.0 (0.5–2.0)	1.0 (0.5–2.2)	1.7 (0.6–4.8)	1.9 (0.7–5.2)
	Middle school	1.4 (0.7–3.0)	1.5 (0.6–3.6)	1.6 (0.5–5.1)	2.2 (0.7–6.6)
	High school	1.6 (0.8–3.0)	1.6 (0.7–3.2)	0.7 (0.2–1.9)	1.0 (0.3–3.3)
	Higher education or more	1.3 (0.5–3.1)	1.2 (0.5–2.8)	1.6 (0.6–4.6)	2.9 (0.9–9.1)
Smoking habit
	Has never smoked	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Former smoker	1.2 (0.7–2.2)	1.5 (0.8–2.9)	2.3 (0.9–5.4)	2.0 (0.8–5.3)
	Current smoker	1.1 (0.6–2.0)	1.4 (0.7–2.7)	2.4 (0.9–5.7)	2.6 (1.1–6.4)
Has worked at Vale S.A. before the dam rupture
	No	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Yes	0.8 (0.4–1.8)	1.1 (0.5–2.8)	0.4 (0.1–1.6)	0.4 (0.1–1.5)
Time of residence in the municipality (years)
	1^st tertile (≤13)	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	2^nd tertile (14–33)	1.1 (0.6–2.0)	1.1 (0.6–1.9)	3.5 (1.3–10.0)	4.5 (1.6–12.5)
	3^rd tertile (≥34)	0.7 (0.4–1.3)	0.7 (0.4–1.3)	3.1 (1.1–8.8)	4.0 (1.3–12.4)
Area of residence in relation to the dam rupture
	Sample from other regions	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Directly affected by the mud	1.7 (1.2–2.3)	1.8 (1.2–2.5)	0.4 (0.2–0.8)	0.5 (0.3–1.0)
	Mining area	1.5 (1.1–2.2)	1.6 (1.1–2.5)	0.9 (0.5–1.8)	0.9 (0.4–2.0)

Variables		Wheezing		Dry cough		Nose irritation
Variables		Crude OD (95%CI)	Adjusted OD (95%CI)	Crude OD (95%CI)	Adjusted OD (95%CI)	Crude OD (95%CI)	Adjusted OD (95%CI)
Sex
	Man	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Woman	0.8 (0.6–1.3)	1.3 (0.8–2.1)	1.0 (0.8–1.3)	1.2 (0.9–1.6)	1.3 (0.9–1.7)	1.5 (1.2–2.0)
Age group (years)
	18–24	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–39	0.9 (0.4–2.0)	0.9 (0.4–2.3)	1.2 (0.7–2.0)	1.3 (0.7–2.2)	1.2 (0.7–2.0)	1.2 (0.7–2.0)
	40–59	1.1 (0.5–2.4)	0.4 (0.4–2.0)	1.2 (0.7–1.9)	1.0 (0.6–1.8)	1.1 (0.7–2.0)	1.1 (0.7–1.9)
	60 or over	1.3 (0.6–2.8)	1.1 (0.4–2.7)	1.3 (0.8–2.2)	1.2 (0.6–2.2)	0.8 (0.5–1.3)	0.9 (0.5–1.6)
Level of education
	Some elementary school	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Elementary school	0.8 (0.5–1.4)	0.7 (0.4–1.2)	0.9 (0.6–1.4)	0.9 (0.6–1.3)	1.1 (0.7–1.7)	1.0 (0.6–1.6)
	Middle school	1.0 (0.5–1.8)	1.0 (0.5–1.9)	0.8 (0.5–1.3)	0.9 (0.6–1.5)	1.0 (0.7–1.5)	0.9 (0.6–1.4)
	High school	0.3 (0.2–0.6)	0.4 (0.2–0.8)	0.6 (0.4–0.9)	0.7 (0.5–1.1)	1.5 (0.9–2.2)	1.3 (0.8–2.0)
	Higher education or more	0.3 (0.1–0.6)	0.3 (0.1–0.8)	0.4 (0.2–0.7)	0.5 (0.3–0.9)	0.9 (0.6–1.5)	0.9 (0.6–1.6)
Smoking habit
	Has never smoked	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Former smoker	2.4 (1.4–4.2)	2.4 (1.2–4.6)	1.8 (1.3–2.6)	1.9 (1.3–2.8)	0.9 (0.7–1.3)	1.1 (0.7–1.6)
	Current smoker	7.4 (4.5–11.9)	7.1 (4.2–11.9)	2.6 (1.8–3.8)	2.6 (1.8–3.9)	1.3 (0.9–2.1)	1.5 (0.9–2.4)
Has worked at Vale S.A. before the dam rupture
	No	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Yes	1.1 (0.5–2.1)	1.0 (0.4–2.4)	1.0 (0.7–1.6)	1.0 (0.6–1.6)	1.4 (0.9–2.1)	1.5 (0.9–2.4)
Time of residence in the municipality (years)
	1^st tertile (≤13)	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	2^nd tertile (14–33)	1.6 (0.9–2.7)	1.5 (0.9–2.5)	1.8 (1.2–2.6)	1.7 (1.1–2.5)	1.2 (0.8–1.6)	1.1 (0.8–1.5)
	3^rd tertile (≥34)	1.4 (0.8–2.4)	1.1 (0.6–2.0)	1.8 (1.2–2.6)	1.6 (0.9–2.4)	1.0 (0.7–1.4)	1.0 (0.7–1.5)
Area of residence in relation to the dam rupture
	Sample from other regions	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Directly affected by the mud	1.5 (1.1–2.0)	1.4 (0.9–2.0)	2.0 (1.6–2.5)	2.0 (1.6–2.6)	2.3 (1.9–2.9)	2.3 (1.9–2.9)
	Mining area	1.0 (0.7–1.5)	1.0 (0.6–1.6)	1.2 (0.9–1.6)	1.1 (0.9–1.5)	1.0 (0.7–1.2)	0.9 (0.7–1.2)

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Mary Anne Nascimento-Souza. Av. Augusto de Lima, 1715, Barro Preto, CEP: 30190-002, Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil. E-mail: maryannemoc@yahoo.com.br