Latex allergy and occupational asthma in health care workers: adverse outcomes.

Amr, Sania; Bollinger, Mary E.

doi:10.1289/ehp.6612

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(42 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Studies assessing exposures to individual risk factors such as latex, sensitizing agents and disinfectants suggested increased risk. Latex was found to be an occupational risk factor for asthma among health care professionals in numerous studies [9,[42][43][44]. However, the introduction of latex-free gloves after 2000 in many health care institutions reduced the risk of asthma and allergy significantly [43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of asthma symptoms among workers in health care settings

Al-Zoughool¹,

Al-Mistneer²

2018

Int. J. EI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prevalence of asthma is quite high in health care settings due to exposure to a wide variety of substances, including cleaning products, latex, medicines, ammonia and solvents. In this cross-sectional study, participants completed a validated questionnaire about their occupation, asthma diagnosis, variability of asthma symptoms at and away from work, and exposure to individual substances in the workplace. Work-related asthma symptoms (WRAS) were defined based on a set of criteria. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to classify different substances into exposure patterns. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between self-reported exposures to substances and asthma outcomes among health care workers. PCA revealed two factors: factor 1 (metal dust, metal fumes, solvents, cleaning agents, ammonia, glues) and factor 2 (disinfectants, latex, medicines). Exposure to factor 1 agents was associated with increased risk of WRAS (crude odds ratio (OR) 5.52, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 2.72-11.19), while exposure to factor 2 agents was associated with non-significant lower risk of WRAS (crude OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.3-1.14). Adjusting by confounders such as parent's allergy and history of asthma, or smoking, did not appreciably change the ORs. Some agents were associated with increased risk of WRAS, while the lack of association with the exposure to other set of chemicals may be attributed to a number of factors, including healthy worker effect.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of asthma symptoms among workers in health care settings

Al-Zoughool¹,

Al-Mistneer²

2018

Int. J. EI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Back pain, long hours and exposure to radiation, latex, nitrous oxide and biological pathogens are just a few dangers that can reduce work efficiency and the health of the practitioners themselves [29][30][31][32][33][34]. In contrary to the above though, exposure to SHS can be completely avoided if legislated tobacco control measures are followed as designed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second Hand Smoke Exposure and Excess Heart Disease and Lung Cancer Mortality among Hospital Staff in Crete, Greece: A Case Study

Vardavas

2008

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is a serious threat to public health, and a significant cause of lung cancer and heart disease among non-smokers. Even though Greek hospitals have been declared smoke free since 2002, smoking is still evident. Keeping the above into account, the aim of this study was to quantify the levels of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and to estimate the attributed lifetime excess heart disease and lung cancer deaths per 1000 of the hospital staff, in a large Greek public hospital. Environmental airborne respirable suspended particles (RSP) of PM 2.5 were performed and the personnel's excess mortality risk was estimated using risk prediction formulas. Excluding the intensive care unit and the operating theatres, all wards and clinics were polluted with environmental tobacco smoke. Mean SHS-RSP measurements ranged from 11 to 1461 µg/m 3 depending on the area. Open wards averaged 84 µg/m 3 and the managing wards averaged 164 µg/m 3 thus giving an excess lung cancer and heart disease of 1.12 (range 0.23-1.88) and 11.2 (range 2.3-18.8) personnel in wards and 2.35 (range 0.55-12.2) and 23.5 (range 5.5-122) of the managing staff per 1000 over a 40-year lifespan, respectively. Conclusively, SHS exposure in hospitals in Greece is prevalent and taking into account the excess heart disease and lung cancer mortality risk as also the immediate adverse health effects of SHS exposure, it is clear that proper implementation and enforcement of the legislation that bans smoking in hospitals is imperative to protect the health of patients and staff alike.

show abstract

“…It is clear that NRL exposure has been a leading cause of OA, especially among health care workers using powdered latex gloves [33,34]. The overall incidence of NRL-induced OA peaked from 10.9 per 100,000 full-time equivalent health care workers in 1991 to 19.7 in 1998 [35].…”

Section: Case Study #1: Natural Rubber Latex-induced Asthmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities and obstacles in translating evidence to policy in occupational asthma

Tarlo

Delclos

Henneberger

et al. 2018

Annals of Epidemiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Occupational asthma (OA), a common respiratory disorder in Western countries, is caused by exposures at the workplace. It is part of a broader definition of work-related asthma (WRA) that also includes pre-existing asthma aggravated by substances present in the workplace environment, and it is potentially preventable. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate preventive measures for occupational asthma by case studies. Methods In three case studies we discuss preventive measures that have been associated with reductions in incidence of occupational asthma from natural rubber latex and from diisocyanates as supported by published literature. We also discuss challenges in relation to asthma from cleaning products in healthcare work. Results and conclusions Several preventive measures have been associated with reduction in incidence of occupational asthma from natural rubber latex and from diisocyanates, and may provide lessons for prevention of other causes of occupational asthma. Cleaning products remain an unresolved problem at present with respect to asthma risks but potential measures include the use of safer products and safer applications such as avoidance of spray products, use of occupational hygiene methods such as improving local ventilation, and when appropriate, the use of personal protective devices.

show abstract

Latex allergy and occupational asthma in health care workers: adverse outcomes.

Cited by 19 publications

References 36 publications

Risk of asthma symptoms among workers in health care settings

Risk of asthma symptoms among workers in health care settings

Second Hand Smoke Exposure and Excess Heart Disease and Lung Cancer Mortality among Hospital Staff in Crete, Greece: A Case Study

Opportunities and obstacles in translating evidence to policy in occupational asthma

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About