PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review focuses on new causative agents of occupational asthma published in 2009 and 2010. The recent developments in the diagnostic tools employed in occupational asthma caused by new agents are summarized. RECENT FINDINGS Work exposures are a significant contributor to the burden of asthma and, therefore, there is great scientific interest in work-related asthma. Altho...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the risk of asthma among patients with occupationally induced rhinitis. DESIGN Patients with confirmed occupational rhinitis were followed for asthma incidence through register linkage. Patients with other occupational diseases were used as a reference population. SUBJECTS Patients entered into the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases in from 1988 to 1999 ...

Occupational asthma can be induced by a variety of agents, including high and low molecular weight sensitisers, and respiratory irritants [1]. The role of exposure to cleaning products and disinfectants in work-related asthma is increasingly recognised, although the specific substances that increase asthma risk are not well identified [2]. Some of the numerous agents contained in these products...

Occupational asthma may be defined as asthma induced by exposure to an inhaled agent (or agents) in the workplace. Its presentation is sometimes dramatic. Occupational exposure to platinum salts, for example, has been known to induce asthma in over 50% of an exposed workforce. For those affected, the consequences are often devastating, while the economic effects for an industry may be no less p...

Occupational asthma has become the most prevalent occupational lung disease in developed countries. At present, about 200 agents have been implicated in causing occupational asthma in the workplace. These agents can be divided into two categories by their mechanism of action: immunological and nonimmunological. Immunological causes can be further divided into those that induce asthma through an...

Work-related asthma accounts for at least 10 percent of all cases of adult asthma. Work-related asthma includes work aggravation of preexisting asthma and new-onset asthma induced by occupational exposure. Occupational exposure to very high concentrations of an irritant substance can produce reactive airway dysfunction syndrome, while exposure to allergenic substances can result in allergic occ...

BACKGROUND The proportion of asthma in adults that is due to occupational exposures is not known. AIM To examine the contribution of workplace exposures to the development of asthma in adults in New South Wales (NSW) in a cross sectional, population-based study. METHODS A randomly selected population of 5,331 18- to 49-year olds completed and returned a mailed questionnaire (response rate 3...

Asthma is common among adults of working age and aVects 5–10% of the population worldwide. Occupational asthma has become a common work related respiratory disorder in the industrialised world. Blanc and Toren have shown that 9% of cases of adult asthma—including principally new onset asthma and, much more rarely, reactivation of pre-existing asthma—are attributable to occupational factors. Stu...

An association between asthma and work was first recognized by Hippocrates, who described its presence in metal workers, tailors, fullers, horsemen, farmhands and fishermen. In 1713, in his "De morbis artificum diatriba" Bernardino Ramazzini provided a description of diseases due to various occupations, and emphasized the necessity for a physician who sees a patient to put the following questio...

A case is described of occupational asthma in a worker with no previous history of asthma who sprinkled dried metabisulphite powder onto potatoes and developed work-related symptoms. Occupational asthma was confirmed by specific inhalation challenges.