Asthma-march07c.indd

Sheffi eld Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS)Working to Prevent and Al eviate the Effects of Work on Health The substances at work may have a warning (a ‘risk phrase’) on them or If you have attacks of shortness of breath and they started when you were at work or were made worse by work, your asthma may be occupational. Every year in the UK, up to 3,000 people develop asthma because they are exposed to dangerous substances at work. This is called occupational asthma. 750,000 people with asthma fi nd that things at work make their asthma worse. offi cer may have information on the chemicals you work with. Contact The fi rst step is to use a peak fl ow be able to advise you on how expo-sure to particular substances can be prevented.
How to test your lungsWorkers can get a good indication of the effect of workplace factors on their lungs using a peak fl ow meter.
Lungs which have not been too badly damaged by chemicals show a tell-tale response when confronted with a sensitiser. The lungs recover over a weekend or break period; a reading will be characteristically high on a Monday morning. It will continue to drop through the week, only recovering again at the weekend. There will tend to be a time lag between exposure and onset of symptoms.
The effects of exposure to irritants will not offer so clear an exposure www.sohas.co.uk
“fi ngerprint”. There will usually be a more instantaneous effect, with symptoms directly following an exposure to a lung irritant.
Funded by Section 64 (Department of Health).
SOHAS 2007 WHIG: If it is just information you need, you can also visit our website, the Work and Health Information Gateway at www.whig.org.uk.
Do you have Occupational Asthma? June 2007 examining doctors can get the help of other people – the Health and Safety Executive inspectors To obtain Industrial Injuries and their doctors in the Employ-Disablement Benefi t for Sheffi eld Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS) Do you have Occupational Asthma? June 2007 ers’ jobs and pay at risk. Many workers leave work at higher rates of pay for lower paid jobs because their asthma is becoming progres-sively worse while at work. Occu- Engineering
Chrome nickel, dusts and mists, bacteria and biocides in cutting fl uids, Cleaning
Steelmaking
Resins: isocyanates, furfural, formaldehyde, epoxy resin hardeners and foundries
Painting
Food/bakery
and that others are at risk. There are often ways of substituting Hospitals
Glutaraldehyde, antibiotics, disinfectants INDUSTRY
Vertebrates: Budgerigar, Chicken, Frog, Guinea pig, Mice, Pig, Rabbits, Rats Terrestrial invertebrates: Acarian, Bee moth, Beetles, Caterpillars, Cockroaches, Cricket, Daphnia, Fruit fl y, Grasshoppers, Honey bee, L. Caesar larvae, Lesser mealworm, Locust, Mites (grain, fowl, barn, fl our, straw, house dust mite), Moth, Butterfl y, Molluscs, Nematode worms, Riverworm fl y, Screw worm fl y, Sheep blowfl y, Silkworm larvae, Weeping fi g, Weevils (Mexican bean, fl our, grain)Marine invertebrates: Crab, Prawn, Hoya, Cuttle fi sh, Squid, Oyster, Seasquirt fl uids, Trout, Echinodorus larva, Red soft coral Avian protein, Bat guano, Casein, Egg protein, Fish-feed, Lactoserum, Pearldust, Sheepswool dust, Baby’s breath, Buckwheat, Castor bean, Cacoon seed, Chicory, Citrus fruit peel, Cladosporium seeds, Coffee Bean, Flour (wheat, barley, oats, rye, soya), Freesia, Garlic dust, Gentian powder, Gluten, Graindust, Henna (hairdressers), Hops, Lathyrus sativus, Lycopodium, Paprika, Pollens (including sunfl ower), Rose hips, Sericin (hairdressers), Sunfl ower, Tamarind seed, Tea (incl. herbal), Tobacco leaf, Vicia sativa Alternaria, Contaminated water (amoebae, etc), Humidifi er sludge, Merulius lachrymans (dry rot), spores, Paecilomyces B. subtilis, Bromelin, Flaviastase, Fungal amylase, Fungal amyloglucosidade, hemicellulase, Pancreatin, Papain, Pepsin, Trypsin Carmine, Casein, Phenylglycine acid chloride, Plicatic acid, Psyllium, Quillaic acid, Rosin, Saponin, Sheffi eld Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS) Do you have Occupational Asthma? June 2007 INDUSTRY
Chemicals
Diphenylmethane -, Isophorone -, 5-Naphthylene -, Toluene - diisocyanate Himic, Methyl tetrahydrophthalic, Phthalic, Pyromellitic, Tetrachlorophthalic Dimethylethanolamine, 3-(Dimethylamino-propylamine (3-DMAPA), Ethanolamines, Ethylene diamine, N-methylmorpholine, Monoethanolamine, Paraphenylene diamine, Piperazine Hydrochloride, Triethylene tetramine Colophony, Zinc-chloride and ammonium, chloride fl ux, 95% Alkylarul polyether, alcohol + 5%, Abiruana, African Maple, Cedar, Boxwood, California redwood, Cedar (Eastern red, of Lebanon, Western red), Cinnamon, Cocabolla, Ebony, Fernambouc, Iroko, Kejaat, Kotibe, Mahogany, Mansonia, Maple, African Oak, Paw Paw Tree, Pine (pine resin), Quillaja, Ramin, Soapbark, ,Tanganykia aningre, Walnut, Aluminium, Chromium, Cobalt, Nickel, Platinum, Stainless steel welding, Tungsten carbide, Vanadium, EngineeringElectroplatingPainting Printing Penicillins, Ampicillin, Amprolium, Aspirin, Cephalosporins, Cimetidine, Hydralazine, Hydrazide, Ipecacuanha, Isonicotinic acid, Ispaghula, Methyl dopa, Penicillamine, Phenylglycine acid, Chloride, Psyllium, Siramycin, Salbutamol intermediate, Sulphathiazole, Sulphone choramide, Tetracycline, Levafi x brillant, Yellow E36, Drimaren brillant, Yellow K-3GL, Cibachrome brillant, Scarlet 32, Drimaren brillant, Blue K-BL Abeitic acid, Acrylic resins, Adipic acid, Azobisformamide, Azodicarbonamide, Chloramine, Chlorhexidine, Cyanoacrylates (widely used adhesives), Diazonium salt, Formaldehyde, Epoxy resins, Freon, Furfuryl alcohol: furan based resin, Glutaraldehyde, Hexachlorophene (sterilizing agent), Iso-nonanyl oxybenzene sulphonate, Latex, Methyl methacrylates, Organic phosphate insecticides, Plexiglass, Polyvinyl chloride (fumes, powder), Styrene, Tetrazene, Urea formaldehyde The above list is derived from a number of sources, principally Chan-Yeung in ‘Asthma in the Workplace’ (ed. Chan-Yeung) and Hazards bulletin.
SOHAS receives funding from Sheffi eld Primary Care Trust and Section 64 (Department of Health). Sheffi eld Occupational Health Advisory Service Limited registered in England and Wales. Registered No: 2429795 Registered Offi ce: 3rd Floor Queen’s Building, 55 Queen Street, Sheffi eld S1 2DX. VAT No. 599 931564 Registered Charity No. 1085464

Source: http://www.sohas.co.uk/publications/publication5.pdf