Occupational (Work-Related) Asthma

General Information About Work-related Asthma

There are hundreds of known causes of work-related asthma. Each year in Michigan, about 150 new cases of asthma caused by exposures to substances at work are reported to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (MDLEG). Inspections at the companies where these people work find large numbers of fellow workers with asthma or breathing symptoms like asthma. The work exposures may make a person’s existing asthma worse, or cause new asthma either from becoming allergic to a workplace substance or from exposure to a high level of an irritant chemical.

Over 400 substances that can cause asthma in the work place have been identified, and the list continues to grow. Even very low levels of exposure to some of these substances can aggravate or cause asthma. However, employees, employers and health care professionals are often unaware of the association of an individual’s asthma with exposure to substances in the work place.

In Michigan, new cases of work-related asthma are identified in 140-150 workers each year; this is an underestimate of the true number of individuals developing asthma from work place exposures in our state. It is estimated there are 228-801 individuals a year who develop work-related asthma in Michigan. Since approximately 15% of asthma is considered to be work-related, and there are at least 500,000 adults with asthma in Michigan, a special State tracking program has been identifying individuals with work-related asthma since 1988. The program interviews workers about their work place exposures, their symptoms and the timing of symptoms in relation to work. In some cases, Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) enforcement officers inspect the work places of the individuals identified in the tracking program. The inspections document exposures, the presence of other symptomatic co-workers, and compliance with Michigan OSHA regulations. Each year, a summary of the findings from this tracking program is published. View the 2008 Annual Report.

A recent work-related death investigation by MIOSHA and the Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (MIFACE) research program revealed that a worker died from an acute asthmatic attack caused by exposure to isocyanates while applying a spray-on truck bedliner.

• view a copy of the MIFACE report.
• view a work-related asthma fact sheet.
• here is a brochure on asthma and cleaning products.