Medical Encyclopedia:
Occupational Asthma
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Definition
Occupational asthma is a form of lung disease in which the breathing passages shrink, swell, or become inflamed or congested as a result of exposure to irritants in the workplace.
Description
As many as 15% of all cases of asthma may be related to on-the-job exposure to:
- animal hair
- dander
- dust composed of bacteria, protein, or organic matter like cereal, grains, cotton, and flax
- fumes created by metal soldering
| Occupations Associated With Asthma |
| Animal Handling |
| Bakeries |
| Health Care |
| Jewelry Making |
| Laboratory Work |
| Manufacturing Detergents |
| Nickel Plating |
| Soldering |
| Snow Crab and Egg Processing |
| Tanneries |
- insulation and packaging materials
- mites and other insects
- paints
Hundreds of different types of jobs involve exposure to substances that could trigger occupational asthma, but only a small fraction of people who do such work develop this disorder. Occupational asthma is most apt to affect workers who have personal or family histories of allergies or asthma, or who are often required to handle or breathe dust or fumes created by especially irritating material.
— Maureen Haggerty
