Overview
Asthma is a disease that affects your airways, making it hard to breathe. When asthma begins or gets worse because of your job, healthcare providers may diagnose work-related asthma. For 15% to 33% of adult-onset asthma, their asthma is work-related.
Work-related asthma has two categories:
- Occupational asthma starts due to inhaling (breathing in) irritants in the workplace.
- Work-exacerbated asthma is when existing asthma gets worse from exposure to substances at work.
Who gets occupational asthma?
Anyone who spends a significant time around common irritants can develop occupational asthma. But some careers have a higher risk because of frequent contact. These careers can include:
- Bakers who may get “baker’s lung” after breathing in flour and grain dust over a long period.
- Farmers, grain elevator workers or millers.
- Healthcare workers who breathe in powder from latex gloves or other chemicals.
- Laboratory workers who deal with animals.
- Pharmaceutical workers with exposure to airborne particles of drugs.
- Maintenance or cleaning occupations with exposure to chemicals from cleaning products.
- People who work with metals, plastics or wood.
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