Asthma in the Workplace

Some exposures in the workplace are likely to cause asthma, a problem in all of the developed countries. In the United States and Japan, estimates suggest that as many as 15% of people in the workplace suffer from occupational asthma. There are also a group of people with true bronchial asthma whose disease worsens after industrial exposure. There are about 250 chemicals (mentioned elsewhere in this book) identified as causing occupational asthma on a list that includes almost any substance that can be inhaled. For example, chemicals called isocyanates, used in fabrication of plastics, are known to cause asthma. Isocyanate-induced asthma develops in 10% of workers exposed to it. With isocyanates, as with other exposures in the workplace, avoidance of the industrial exposure is the best and often the only cure. For most patients with occupationally induced asthma, management consists of retraining for another occupation that will avoid the exposure to harmful airborne substances.

The diagnosis of occupational asthma has social and economic implications as well as those related to health. Legal implications are certainly significant. In Canada, each settled claim against the governmental agency that manages this disease results in costs of $35,000. In the United States, there are also tort law approaches to liability claims.