Occupational Asthma

Over 200 materials encountered in the workplace are recognized as giving rise to occupational asthma.
These includes dust, vapour or other fumes which are of small amounts that normally no problem should occur.
Whether workers develop occupational asthma or not often results from their exposure to these materials. To avoid the risk of contracting asthma an appropriate ventilation can have a great impact.

One advantage of occupational asthma is the fact that it will stop if you do no longer come in contact with those special trigger materials but only if you have worked closely with your doctor to treat your asthma in an early stage.

To make this advantage worthwhile you would have to stop working in an environment with these trigger materials as soon as possible. The longer you would continue inhaling the 'dangerous' dust, vapou or fumes the more likely it will become that you would suffer from permanent asthma no matter if you leave your job later.

Unfortunately it is not always easy to change jobs or maybe you did not even notice that your asthma triggers have something to do with your work at all. This could lead to severe health problems long-term.

If you suffer from asthma it is always neccessary finding out the reasons for it. However in the case of occupational asthma it is even more important, because there could be other people suffering from asthma for the same reasons.

But remember that asthma is a very common disease so that is is possible that it is not related to your work at all. This can be a problem to determine and discover the few people who really do have occupational asthma. You should be careful to not quit your job when it is not neccessary for the kind of asthma you might suffer from. If your asthma regularily seems to disappear during weekends or holiday times, it is more likely that your work has something to do with it. 
 

Causes of Occupational Asthma

Animals : mammals and insects.

Enzymes in washing detergents

Epoxy resin moulding

Flour (bakery workers)

Pharmaceutical industry (some drugs)

Phthalates, e.g. in paints

Platinum refining

Polyurethane paints and plastic moulding

Soldering (fumes from resin in soldering flux: mainly in electronics workers)

Some wood dusts

Textile dyes (reactive dyes)

Strangely enough, many substances with a sharp smell, including diesel fumes, are obviously unlikly to cause asthma, even though they might cause allergic reactions in your nose.

Try to remove the cause of asthma if it is based on your work. You and your employer could help a lot of people - including himself if the work environment can be improved.

If your asthma is treated early the result would usually be a complete cure. Therefore you should consult an expert on occupation asthma as fast as possible if you have the impression that your asthma is caused by your work.

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