Assessment of Changes in Cardiovascular Parameters among Petrol Pump Attendants in Ughelli, Delta State Nigeria

Petrol pump attendants are group of workers that are daily exposed to petrol fumes across petrol filling stations in major cities within Nigeria and sub-Sahara Africa. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of petrol fumes on changes in some cardiovascular parameters among petrol pump attendants in Ughelli, Delta State Nigeria by measuring arterial blood pressure and calculating pulse and mean arterial pressure of 150 petrol attendants with age, sex matched control within Ughelli metropolis and its environs. Data obtained show that the arterial blood pressure, pulse and mean arterial pressure ranged from 108/60 - 140/92, 48 - 80 and 76 - 126 mmHg respectively. The result also revealed that mean arterial pressure significantly (p<0.05) increase in the petrol pump attendant. More so, the systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased in a duration of exposure dependent manner with significance (p<0.05) in petrol pump attendants working for more than five years. The mean arterial pressure was significantly (p<0.05) increased in subjects working as petrol pump attendants for less than five years and five years or more. Data also showed that the pulse pressure was not adversely affected in the petrol pump attendants. In conclusion, this study has established that there are changes in cardiovascular parameters of petrol pump attendants as shown with an increase in systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure.