Table 1 Characteristics of the sample population

Participants

136 (100%)

Age (years, mean (sd))

38.8 (10.2)

Sex

Women

41 (30.2%)

Men

95 (69.8%)

BMI (mean (sd))

24.7 (3.9)

Missing data for BMI

8 (6%)

Ethnicity

Caucasian

128 (94.1%)

Others

8 (5.9%)

Lifelong tobacco smoking (pack-years) (mean (sd))

4.1 (9.5)

Missing data for lifelong tobacco smoking

6 (4.4%)

Lifestyle

Active

77 (56.6%)

Inactive

59 (43.4%)

Employment duration (years, mean (sd))

6.7 (7.6)

10-year cumulative exposure to nanomaterials

Particle number concentration (particles/cm³-yrs, median (IQR))

161,692 (462,168)

LDSA (µm²/cm³-yrs, median (IQR))

305 (550)

Pulmonary function and respiratory health

FEV₁ < LLN

15 (11.6%)

FVC < LLN

8 (6.2%)

FEV₁/FVC < LLN

10 (7.8%)

FEF_{25 − 75%} < LLN

10 (7.8%)

Missing data for all pulmonary function parameters

7 (5.1%)

Asthmatics

12 (8.8%)

COPD cases

1 (2.4%)

Inflammatory biomarkers measured in EBC (pre-post shift average)

IL-10 (pg/mL, mean (sd))

1.88 (0.63)

IL-1β (pg/mL, mean (sd))

0.51 (0.20)

TNF-α (pg/mL, mean (sd))

0.19 (0.09)

IL-10/TNF-α mean (sd)

11.7 (5.4)

Missing data for all inflammatory biomarkers

7 (5.1%)