Surveillance of work-related asthma including the emergence of a cannabis-associated case series in Washington State.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bonauto DK ; LaSee CR ; Reeb-Whitaker C
• Description:
  Objective: We conducted surveillance for work-related asthma (WRA) in Washington State to identify the industry sectors and asthma exposures most commonly affecting injured workers and in need of prevention activities. Methods: Using workers' compensation data as the primary data source, valid cases were classified as work-aggravated asthma (WAA) or new onset asthma that includes occupational asthma (OA) and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). The source of exposure that caused the worker's asthma, their industry and occupation were determined. Results: There were 784 valid work-related asthma cases identified for the period 2009-2016, WAA (n = 529) was most common followed by occupational asthma (n = 127) and RADS (n = 12). The Health Care and Social Assistance industry had the highest number of cases (n = 170) with 82% classified as WAA. The highest overall proportions of new onset asthma are occurring in Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (33% of work related asthma cases), Manufacturing (31%) and Construction (30%). The leading substances associated with new onset asthma across all industries include hop plant dust, wood and cedar dust, mineral and inorganic dust, mold, and cleaning materials. We describe ten cases of cannabis-associated asthma including seven from workers in the legalized cannabis industry, four of whom had OA. Conclusion: State-based work-related asthma surveillance is critical in identifying the workers and exposures associated with this occupational disease, including the detection of a case-series in the cannabis industry. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma, Occupational Cannabis Dust Epidemiology Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Case Reports; Epidemiology; Prevention Occupational Asthma; Surveillance; Respiratory Diseases; Dust Exposure; Plant Dusts; Cleaning Compounds; Cannabis; Epidemiology;
• ISSN:
  0277-0903
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065567
• Citation:
  J Asthma 2022 Aug; 59(8):1537-1547
• Contact Point Address:
  Carolyn Reeb-Whitaker, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Olympia, WA, USA
• Email:
  Carolyn.Whitaker@Lni.wa.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Cannabis (CAS RN 8063-14-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Asthma
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b2b25692fd3a8de8ae0d037b3bf06b0be4aefd432df4f4310e9aaac28228d701653633555e3dfa372c651f519c624787f3137ed5f1d37d015be70aba5ffcb1d7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/249480/cdc_249480_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.18 MB ]