Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics and the concentrations of S-Al & U-Al (µg/L) of studied workers according to pattern of exposure.

Characteristics Type of exposure p-Value*
Exposed group (N = 66) Unexposed group (N = 43)
2Age (years) (Mean ± SD) 33.59 ± 9.50 33.83 ± 10.12 0.898
2Duration of work (months) (mean ± SD) 41.16 ± 15.79 38.02 ± 12.72 0.255
1Educational level No. (%)
   - Illiterate and read and write 9 (13.6) 5 (11.6)
   - Primary and preparatory (5-13 years) 14 (21.2) 10 (23.3) 0.936
   - Secondary and university (14-22 years) 43 (65.2) 28 (65.1)
1Residence No. (%)
   - Urban 51 (77.3) 33 (76.7) 0.949
   - Rural 15 (22.7) 10 (23.3)
1Personal hygiene No. (%)
   - Good 56 (84.8) 34 (79.1) 0.437
   - Bad 10 (15.2) 9 (20.9)
1History of respiratory diseases No. (%)
   - Hasn't a history of respiratory diseases 28 (42.4) 33 (76.7) 0.40
   - Has a history of respiratory diseases 38 (57.6) 10 (23.3)
1Smoking habit No. (%)
   - Currently smoker 15 (22.7) 8 (18.6) 0.842
   - Ex-smoker 13 (19.7) 8 (18.6)
   - Non-smoker 38 (57.6) 27 (62.8)
2S-Al (µg/L) (mean ± SD) 5.50 ± 1.48 1.03 ± 0.23 0.01**
2U-Al (µg/L) (mean ± SD) 97.85 ± 7.76 16.73 ± 3.96 0.01**

1Chi Square Test: *significant at P < 0.05, **significant at P < 0.01, ***significant at P < 0.001;
2T-test: *significant at P < 0.05, **significant at P < 0.01, ***significant at P < 0.001, S-Al: Serum Aluminum; U-Al: Urinary Aluminum concentrations.