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Types of Work Related Asthma
There are 3 types of work-related asthma:
-
Work-Aggravated: when a person
already has asthma but something at work makes the breathing
symptoms worse.
-
New-Onset Asthma from a High Level Exposure to a Substance at Work: when a person never
had asthma before and was exposed to a spill or big leak of a
chemical at work, and then developed asthma after that event.
-
New-Onset Asthma from Working with a Substance Known to Cause Asthma: when a person may
have worked with a substance at work, even for many years with
no asthma symptoms and then develops asthma, months or years
later.
For greater detail on the diagnosis and identification of the three types of work-related
asthma, read the following scientific articles:
- Malo, Jean-Luc and Moira Chan-Yeung. Occupational Asthma. Journal of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology 2001;108:317-328. Find this article abstract in PubMed.
- Youakim,
Sami. Work-Related Asthma. American Family Physician
2001;64:1839-1948. Find this article abstract in PubMed.
Substances at work that can cause asthma
There are more than 400 substances that have been reported in the medical literature that
have been shown to cause work-related asthma. The list continues
to grow. The main categories of substances that can cause asthma in the workplace include:
- ANIMALS (dander, fur, etc.)
- PLANTS and PLANT material
- CHEMICALS
The following is a short list of examples of the types of jobs,
industries, and the types of substances that can cause asthma.
For the most up-to-date listing of asthma-causing agents, refer to
this web site: www.asmanet.com/asmapro. Click on the United States flag
symbol to view the information in English. This web site is an
excellent resource for employers, workers and health professionals.
Some of the More Common Workplace Exposures
| Job or Type of Industry |
Type of Asthma-Causing Agent |
| Animal or Insect Proteins |
Laboratory animal workers
Veterinarians |
dander and urine proteins |
| Food processing |
shellfish, egg proteins |
| Poultry farmers |
poultry mites, droppings, feathers |
| Grain workers |
storage mites, aspergillus, grass pollen |
| Plant Proteins |
| Bakers |
flour dust |
| Food processing |
coffee bean dust, tea, meat tenderizer |
| Farmers |
soybean dust |
| Sawmill workers/carpenters |
wood dust (western red cedar, oak, mahogany, redwood, and others) |
| Electric soldering |
colophony (pine resin) |
| Nurses |
psyllium, latex |
| Chemicals |
| Plating |
nickel salts |
| Beauty shop |
persulfate |
| Welding |
stainless steel fumes, chromium salts |
| Hospital workers |
disinfectants (formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde) |
| Plastics manufacturing |
TDI, HDI, Methylene diisocyanate, phthalic anhydride |
| Automobile painting |
dimethyl ethanolamine diisocyanates |
(Source: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. June 1992, Pub. No.
92-3091)
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has
developed Alerts on several asthma causing agents. These Alerts
provide important information on working with some of the more
widely-used and dangerous asthma-causing agents. Click on the
reports below to read the Alerts on:
Preventing Asthma in Animal Handlers
Preventing Asthma and Death from Diisocyanate Exposure
Preventing Allergic Reactions to Natural Rubber Latex in the Workplace
Click here for a link to a website on
metalworking fluids and asthma
Examples of Agents Capable of Causing Work-Related Asthma
| Natural Products |
| vegetable gums |
orris root |
| flax seed |
flour |
| castor bean |
papain |
| soybean |
mushroom dust and moldy composte |
| natural glues |
wood dusts |
| animal danders and other animal antigens |
natural resins |
| coffee bean |
animal fat, oil and products |
| insect debris |
fish meal and emulsions |
| detergent enzymes |
tobacco dust |
| grain dusts and grain products |
pancreatic extracts |
| Synthetics |
| Inorganic Pharmeceuticals |
| platinum, complex salts |
psyllium |
| nickel salts |
penicillin |
| chromium salts |
ampicillin |
| sodium and potasium |
spiramycin |
| persulphates |
phenylglycine acid chloride |
| Organic Pharmeceuticals |
| sulphathiasole |
bromelin |
| Diisocyanates |
amprolium hydrochloride |
| toulene |
sulphone choloramides |
| diphenylmethane |
tetracycline |
| hexamethylene |
|
| Miscellaneous Anhydrides |
| phthalic |
formaldehyde |
| tetrachlorophthallic |
piperazine |
| trimellitic |
organophosphorus insecticides |
| Miscellaneous Amines |
| pyrolysis products of polyvinyl chloride |
|
| aminoethyl |
alkylaryl polyether alcohol |
| ethanolamine |
tartrazine |
| dimethyl ethanolamine |
products of heated adhesives |
| ethylene diamine |
|
| paraphenylenediamine |
|
| diethylene triamine |
|
| diethylene tetramine |
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