Occupational exposure to organic dusts and risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: findings from a Swedish population-based case–control study

Abstract

ObjectivesWe estimated the association between occupational exposures to five different organic dusts: wood, animal, paper, textile and flour dust and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsThis population-based case–control study analysed 12 582 incident cases and 129 335 controls. Participants were identified from national public authority and quality registers. Census data on occupations were collected 1960–2010 and we estimated the exposure to organic dust with the help of job-exposure matrices. We used logistic regression to assess the OR of seropositive or seronegative RA. Estimates were adjusted for the matching variables (sex, county, age and index year), education and occupational silica exposure.ResultsExposure to animal dust was associated with an increased risk of RA among both men and women. The OR was 1.2 (95% CI=1.1 to 1.4) for seropositive RA and 1.3 (95% CI=1.1 to 1.5) for seronegative RA among ever exposed participants compared with unexposed. The risk increased with duration of exposure for seropositive RA, and participants who had been exposed in five or more censuses had an OR of 1.6 (95% CI=1.1 to 2.2, p for trend=0.003). Exposure to textile dust also generated a significant dose–response relationship for seropositive RA (p for trend=0.014). We detected no association between exposure to wood, paper or flour dust and risk of RA.ConclusionsOverall, exposure to animal dust and textile dust was associated with an increased risk of developing RA. These observations give further support to the notion that airborne exposures are involved in the aetiology of RA.

Respiratory Diseases as Risk Factors for Seropositive and Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis and in Relation to Smoking

“…This finding is consistent with a pulmonary inflammation hypothesis of RA origination (24,43,44). Such inflammation might be produced by a wide variety of agents or types of stimuli, explaining why other pulmonary irritants like air pollution (39,45), organic dust (46), asbestos (47), and silica (47,48) also have been observed to be associated with an increased risk of RA, with only silica showing a strong association with seropositive RA alone (47,48). The mechanisms behind these associations may obviously differ by exposure, sometimes involving risk for only ACPA/RF‐positive disease, and other times involving risk for both RA subtypes.…”

Inorganic Dust Exposure During Military Service as a Predictor of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Conditions

“…The JEM that we applied considered likely inorganic dust exposure but did not address other inhalants, such as work-related organic dusts. Animal and textile dusts, for example, were associated with RA risk (seropositive and seronegative) in a recent study (36). Endotoxin (a key component of organic dusts) has been shown to potentiate silica-induced lung injury in an experimental model (37).…”

The Influences of Perfluoroalkyl Substances on the Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinic

“…Several studies evaluated the role of particulate pollutants in the development of RA, indicating that some particulate pollutants can be treated as antigens by airway epithelial cells and presented to immune cells. Workers exposed to asbestos and silica have a higher risk of RA, suggesting that inorganic dust and CS may play speci c roles in inducing disease [32].…”