Occupational asthma

[Zipporah Schumaker]

Occupational asthma is a reversible narrowing of the airways caused by inhaling work-related particles or vapors that act as irritants or cause an allergic reaction.

Occupational asthma may cause shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, wheezing, and coughing.
People are tested for allergies to substances known to cause asthma.
Treatment involves avoiding the trigger and, when that is not possible, using drugs to open the airways and reduce inflammation.

(See also Overview of Environmental Lung Diseases.)
Many substances in the workplace can cause narrowing of the airways, which makes breathing difficult. Some people are particularly sensitive to airborne allergens, some develop disease due to very high exposures to airborne irritants even if they do not have an allergy, and some develop building-related illness. Examples of workers at risk for occupational asthma due to exposure to allergens include animal handlers and bakers. People in the United States military who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk, possibly because they were exposed to emissions from open-air burn pits, desert dust particles, industrial fires, and vehicular exhaust.
Occupational asthma is different from occupationally aggravated asthma in which people who have a history of asthma have an increase in their symptoms while they are at work because they are exposed to a substance that triggers an asthma attack.
Several other airway disorders are caused by inhaling irritating substances in the workplace. These disorders are similar to occupational asthma.