Asbestos is a well-known hazardous substance that causes occupational and environmental diseases including asbestosis (lung fibrosis). Silica exposure which causes silicosis (another type of lung fibrosis) has long been linked to the development of autoimmune diseases; however, there are few studies on the relationship between asbestos exposure and autoimmune diseases.

A total of 54 individuals who had worked in a former asbestos textile factory underwent autoantibody-related blood tests, chest X-ray imaging, and pulmonary function tests. Based on the job exposure matrix (JEM), the estimated asbestos exposure concentrations were determined, and the presence of asbestosis was determined by chest radiography.

Scleroderma (Scl-70) and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) antibodies were significantly lowered in the pleural plaque present group than in the absent group. Additionally, Scl-70, RNP, and Sjögren's syndrome type B (SS-B) antibodies were significantly lowered in the asbestosis present group. When stratifying variables with or without asbestosis, Scl-70, Smith, SS-B, and RNP antibodies decreased in female, crocidolite handling group, and higher estimated asbestos exposure level group.

Contrary to our expectations that autoantibody titers would be higher in groups with high asbestos exposure or in the asbestosis group, those with asbestosis showed lower titers. But as our research has some methodological limitations, the lowered titer of autoimmune antibody in our asbestos exposed subjects could not be simply interpreted as a lowered risk of autoimmune diseases. So careful interpreting should be taken when examine autoantibodies to screening or diagnose autoimmune diseases in people with asbestos exposure. In addition, it is necessary to establish relevance of asbestosis and autoantibodies through further studies of larger scale and higher confidence levels.

This study aimed to determine the effect of specific working postures on the development of varicose veins (VV). By using Korea's National Health Insurance (NHI) and National Employment Insurance (NEI) data, we analyzed the general characteristic and difference in proportions of VV cases according to occupational working posture.

From the NEI and NHI data, participant demographics, such as gender, age, body mass index, and number of workers in specific occupations or industries were obtained. We classified the 240 occupations into blue-collar (BC) and white-collar (WC) occupations and subdivided them into standing, sitting, and walking groups according to the dominant working posture.

The number of VV patients per 100,000 individuals increased with age, with a higher number of women than men and a higher number of patients in the BC than WC groups. For the BC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest in the standing group, followed by the walking and sitting groups, but there was no significant difference between standing and walking groups in man. For the WC group, the standing group had a higher proportion of VV cases than the sitting group, but there was no significant difference between the standing and sitting group in man. In the BC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest among medical and welfare-related elementary workers, bakers and cookie makers, automobile assemblers, cleaning and guarding-related elemental workers, and nurses and dental hygienists. In the WC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest among food/lodging/tourism/entertainment/sports-related managers, environment/cleaning/protective services-related managers, finance and insurance clerks, accounting book-keeping clerks, and social welfare and counseling professionals.

This study was performed to determine the characteristics of VV with different working posture among Korean workers. It is expected to be the basis of further studies on occupational musculoskeletal diseases.