Cross-sectional study of respiratory symptoms, spirometry, and immunologic sensitivity in epoxy resin workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barker EA ; Duvall K ; Gaitens J ; Hines SE ; Knight V ; Robinson M ; Rose CS ; Sills M
• Description:
  OBJECTIVES: An epoxy resin worker developed hypersensitivity pneumonitis requiring lung transplantation and had an abnormal blood lymphocyte proliferation test (LPT) to an epoxy hardener. We assessed the prevalence of symptoms, abnormal spirometry, and abnormal epoxy resin LPT results in epoxy resin workers compared to unexposed workers. METHODS: Participants completed questionnaires and underwent spirometry. We collected blood for epoxy resin LPT and calculated stimulation indices for five epoxy resin products. RESULTS: We compared 38 exposed to 32 unexposed workers. Higher exposed workers were more likely to report cough (OR 10.86, [1.23-infinity], p = 0.030) or wheeze (OR 4.44, [1.00-22.25], p = 0.049) than unexposed workers, even controlling for smoking. Higher exposed workers were more likely to have abnormal FEV1 than unexposed workers (OR 10.51, [0.86-589.9], p = 0.071), although not statistically significant when adjusted for smoking. There were no differences in proportion of abnormal epoxy resin system LPTs between exposed and unexposed workers. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, workers exposed to epoxy resin system chemicals were more likely to report respiratory symptoms and have abnormal FEV1 than unexposed workers. Use of epoxy resin LPT was not helpful as a biomarker of exposure and sensitization. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Smoke Smokers Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Lung Function Biological Monitoring Cigarette Smoking Demographic Characteristics Health Surveillance Humans Lung Disorders Respiratory Respiratory System Disorders Sensitizers Surveillance Tobacco Smoke

  More +
• ISSN:
  1752-8054
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047690
• Citation:
  Clin Transl Sci 2015 Dec; 8(6):722-728
• Contact Point Address:
  Stella E. Hines, M.D., M.S.P.H., Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
• Email:
  shines@medicine.umaryland.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Colorado, Denver
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  Clinical and Translational Science
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:70a1c3c41f38c793e8f70ddfdcade687fd7296d3473ffbe2a3d4c123df6b64b2e94b1d6f87388c28f9421bf3d2f12cfbd7d86db2f1d2f322f9e32ebc15ace602
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202693/cdc_202693_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 277.85 KB ]