Occupational Asthma - Occupations at Risk

Occupations At Risk

The following tables show occupations that are known to be at risk for occupational asthma, and main substances involved.

Yet, the riskiest occupations for asthma are: adhesive handlers (e.g. acrylate), animal handlers and veterinarians (animal proteins), bakers and millers (cereal grains), carpet makers (gums), electronics workers (soldering resin), forest workers, carpenters and cabinetmakers (wood dust), hairdressers (e.g. persulfate), health care workers (latex and chemicals such as glutaraldehyde), janitors and cleaning staff (e.g. chloramine-T), pharmaceutical workers (drugs, enzymes), seafood processors, shellac handlers (e.g. amines), solderers and refiners (metals), spray painters, insulation installers, plastics and foam industry workers (e.g. diisocyanates), textile workers (dyes) and users of plastics and epoxy resins (e.g. anhydrides)

Grains, flours, plants and gums

Occupation

Agent

Bakers, millers

Wheat

Chemists, coffee bean baggers and handlers, gardeners, millers, oil industry workers, farmers

Castor beans

Cigarette factory workers

Tobacco dust

Drug manufacturers, mold makers in sweet factories, printers

Gum acacia

Farmers, grain handlers

Grain dust

Gum manufacturers, sweet makers

Gum tragacanth

Strawberry growers

Strawberry pollen

Tea sifters and packers

Tea dust

Tobacco farmers

Tobacco leaf

Woollen industry workers

Wool

Animals, insects and fungi

Occupation

Agent

Bird fanciers

Avian proteins

Cosmetic manufacturers

Carmine

Entomologists

Moths, butterflies

Feather pluckers

Feathers

Field contact workers

Crickets

Fish bait breeders

Bee moths

Flour mill workers, bakers, farm workers, grain handlers

Grain storage mites, alternaria, aspergillus

Laboratory workers

Locusts, cockroaches, grain weevils, rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits

Mushroom cultivators

Mushroom spores

Oyster farmers

Sea pineapples (Hoya)

Pea sorters

Mexican bean weevils

Pigeon breeders

Pigeons

Poultry workers

Chickens

Prawn processors

Prawns

Silkworm sericulturers

Silkworms

Zoological museum curators

Beetles

Chemicals/Materials

Occupation

Agent

Aircraft fitters

Triethyltetramine

Aluminum cable solderers

Aminoethylethanolamine

Aluminum pot room workers

Fluorine

Autobody workers

Acrylates (resins, glues, sealants, adhesives)

Brewery workers

Chloramine-T

Chemical plant workers, pulp mill workers

Chlorine

Dye weighers

Levafix brilliant yellow, drimarene brilliant yellow and blue, cibachrome brilliant scarlet

Electronics workers

Colophony

Epoxy resin manufacturers

Tetrachlorophthalic anhydride

Foundry mold makers

Furan-based resin binder systems

Fur dyers

Para-phenylenediamine

Hairdressers

Persulphate salts

Health care workers

Glutaraldehyde, latex

Laboratory workers, nurses, phenolic resin molders

Formaldehyde

Meat wrappers

Polyvinyl chloride vapour

Paint manufacturers, plastic molders, tool setters

Phthalic anhydride

Paint sprayers

Dimethylethanolamine

Photographic workers, shellac manufacturers

Ethylenediamine

Refrigeration industry workers

CFCs

Solderers

Polyether alcohol, polypropylene glycol

Isocyanates and metals

Occupation

Agent

Boat builders, foam manufacturers, office workers, plastics factory workers, refrigerator manufacturers, TDI manufacturers/users, printers, laminators, tinners, toy makers

TDI

Boiler cleaners, gas turbine cleaners

Vanadium

Car sprayers

Hexamethylene diisocyanate

Cement workers

Potassium dichromate

Chrome platers, chrome polishers

Sodium bichromate, chromic acid, potassium chromate

Nickel platers

Nickel sulphate

Platinum chemists

Chloroplatinic acid

Platinum refiners

Platinum salts

Polyurethane foam manufacturers, printers, laminators

Diphenylmethane diisocyanate

Rubber workers

Naphthalene diisocyanate

Tungsten carbide grinders

Cobalt

Welders

Stainless steel fumes

Drugs and enzymes

Occupation

Agent

Ampicillin manufacturers

Phenylglycine acid chloride

Detergent manufacturers

Bacillus subtilis

Enzyme manufacturers

Fungal alpha-amylase

Food technologists, laboratory workers

Papain

Pharmacists

Gentian powder, flaviastase

Pharmaceutical workers

Methyldopa, salbutamol, dichloramine, piperazine dihydrochloride, spiramycin, penicillins, sulphathiazole, sulphonechloramides, chloramine-T, phosdrin, pancreatic extracts

Poultry workers

Amprolium hydrochloride

Process workers, plastic polymer production workers

Trypsin, bromelin

Woods

Occupation

Agent

Carpenters, timber millers, woodworkers

Western red cedar, cedar of Lebanon, iroko, California redwood, ramin, African zebrawood

Sawmill workers, pattern makers

Mansonia, oak, mahogany, abiruana

Wood finishers

Cocabolla

Wood machinists

Kejaat

Read more about this topic:  Occupational Asthma

Famous quotes containing the words occupations and/or risk:

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    —Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)

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