Asthma Arising in Flavoring-Exposed Food Production Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kreiss, Kathleen ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Lynch D ; Sahakian, Nancy
• Description:
  Objectives: While working for a small family-owned popcorn popping company, all of the three non-smoking workers developed a respiratory disease. Because of the newly identified associations between the flavoring chemicals and bronchiolitis obliterans, the specifics of these cases and their exposures were investigated to add to the body of knowledge of flavoring-related lung disease. Materials and Methods: We obtained data on work processes as well as full-shift personal and area air samples for diacetyl, acetoin, 2-nonanone, acetaldehyde, and total volatile organic compounds. Air samples were collected on thermal desorption tubes for analysis by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We also reviewed medical records and conducted interview with the workers. Results: Air samples representative of the exposures that exacerbated asthma symptoms in two workers contained many different aldehydes. The data from interview and medical records and the high resolution computed tomograms of the chest indicated the presence of occupational asthma in all the three workers and possible bronchiolitis obliterans in two of them. This case series emphasizes a need for exposure reduction and medical surveillance among workers exposed to flavoring chemicals, and provides evidence for an increased risk of occupational asthma, as well as bronchiolitis obliterans, in flavoring-exposed workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Hypersensitivity Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Air-samples Breathing Breathing-zone Chemical-hypersensitivity Lung-disorders Lung-irritants Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Pulmonary-congestion Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiration Respiratory-function-tests Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Surveillance-programs Worker-health Workers

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• ISSN:
  1232-1087
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  173-177
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034625
• Citation:
  Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2008 Sep-Oct; 21(2):173-177
• Contact Point Address:
  K. Kreiss, Field Studies Branch, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Road, Suite H2800, Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S.A., 26505
• Email:
  KKreiss@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f5d12405db4859e4659fcb6aacb0ea4b78d7a1bc2353733526fab0f60a73430be70f074213e95309f0e0b329a0d427f2be21be5c289b9a6e15bd118762f45d64
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186764/cdc_186764_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 575.92 KB ]