Outbreak of organising pneumonia in textile printing sprayers

A novel cause for bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia: exposure to paint aerosols in textile workshops

“…That same year, six of the patients with paint-induced BOOP were briefly reported on by SANZ and PRAT [7], who hypothesized that chan-ges in the formulation of dyes used in the composition of the paint may be causative. The whole series of cases appeared in a now classic paper by MOYA et al [2], who described an epidemiological investigation conducted in a workforce of 257 persons, mostly young people. Seventy one of these 257 patients had respiratory symptoms, and 22 were defined as having OP on the basis of radiology and histopathology.…”

“…The overall attack rate was 8.9% (range 3.6-27.1%). After 1 yr, 59 workers (83%) had recovered or were stable, while 12 had deteriorated, of whom six died of uncontrollable OP [2]. Poor hygiene standards were noted in the factories, with a dense mist of paint present in the workshops.…”

“…Poor hygiene standards were noted in the factories, with a dense mist of paint present in the workshops. The time from first exposure to the paint to onset of pulmonary problems could be as short as 1 month [2]. Inquiry and legal investigation suggested that the outbreak was linked to a change in the paint formulation.…”

“…This spectacular and highly unusual outbreak of occupational lung disease, of which six workers died, took place in the spring of 1992 in the region of Alcoi in the Autonomous Community of Valencia [2]. This highlights the possible emergence of novel lung diseases from inhalation of toxic substances in the industrial setting, and points to an additional aetiological context for bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP), apart from many other causes for this clinicalpathological entity [3][4][5].…”

Atlas of respiratory disease mortality, United States: 1982-1993.

“…An inflammatory lung condition has recently been observed among workers producing nylon textile flock [Kern et al 1997]. An outbreak of fatal pneumonitis with fibrotic sequelae was caused by a textile printing process in which spraying procedures which delivered a hazardous respirable aerosol [Moya et al 1994]. Fibrosing alveolitis caused by exposure to hard metal dusts has also been recognized [De-Capitani et al 1993;Lison et l. 1996].…”