432 © 2017 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Introduction Calcium carbide (CaC 2 ) has been widely used in Asia since antiquity for ripening purposes. [1] Malaysia is one of the countries that still use CaC 2 for fruit ripening, especially mango, as a preferred choice. [2] Ripening agent is a material used to accelerate the ripening activity and available in many forms including CaC 2 . Calcium carbide can stimulate ripening within 24 h and is a sought after material by farmers because it is available at a low price. [3] Calcium carbide for fruit ripening is available in the form of small blocks or powder. In Malaysia, small blocks of CaC 2 are often used. The type of CaC 2 used in the ripening activity contains arsenic and phosphorus, which are hazardous to human health if consumed. [4] Health effects caused by CaC 2 include skin irritation, which can cause rash and redness, and lung irritation, Correspondence: Dr. Irniza Rasdi, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. E-mail: irniza@upm.edu.my Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.atmph.org DOI: 10.4103/1755-6783.208693 Respiratory symptoms and sociodemographic factors among agricultural workers exposed to calcium carbide as fruits ripening agent in Kuala Kangsar, Perak: A preliminary study Noor Shaeda Ismail, Irniza Rasdi, P. Sarva Mangala, Emilia Zainal Adidin Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ABSTRACT Background: In agriculture, calcium carbide (CaC 2 ) is used as a chemical in fruit ripening and as a source of acetylene gas, which acts as a reducing agent with same fruit-ripening attributes as ethylene. The reaction between CaC 2 and moisture produces acetylene, which consequently leads to ripening of fruits. Many existing studies focus on the effects of calcium carbide on fruit texture, taste, and nutritional content, but only a limited number explore the level of occupational exposure of CaC 2 and its health effects among workers involved in the ripening process. Objective: The aim of this article is to assess the respiratory symptoms of agricultural workers through questionnaire and to determine the most significant sociodemographic factors contributing to respiratory symptoms. Methods: The respondents were interviewed using two set of questionnaires: a general structured questionnaire and IUALTD Bronchial Symptoms questionnaire. Data in this study were analyzed statistically using SPSS. Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic factors with respiratory symptoms. Significant level used for this study was P less than 0.05. Result: The most regular symptom exhibited by the respondents was morning phlegm (37.5%), followed by morning cough (33%), shortness of breath (25%), and chest tightness (16.7%). Age, duration of employment, smoking status, handling of calcium carbide, and awareness of the dangers of calcium carbide did not have a significant association with all the respiratory symptoms. Conclusion: Considering the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among the respondents, we suggest that further studies on the effects of CaC 2 are warranted. Findings will be beneficial to creating public awareness on the effects of hazardous chemicals on human health and to increase awareness of impact of the use of calcium carbide on the health of workers working with CaC 2 . Keywords: Calcium carbide, sociodemographic factors, respiratory symptoms This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com Cite this article as: Ismail NS, Rasdi I, Mangala PS, Adidin EZ. Respiratory symptoms and sociodemographic factors among agricultural workers exposed to calcium carbide as fruits ripening agent in Kuala Kangsar, Perak: A preliminary study. Ann Trop Med Public Health 2017;10:432-5. ORIGINAL ARTICLE [PDF Purchased from http://www.atmph.org on Monday, October 9, 2017]abce