Employee Advice - Asthma at Work
Every year in the UK, up to 3,000 develop asthma because they are exposed to dangerous substances at work. This is called occupational asthma.
750,000 people with asthma find that things at work make their asthma worse.
What is occupational asthma?
Some substances that you might come across at work can actually cause asthma. The condition can take weeks, months or even years to develop, depending on the person and substance.
If you think your asthma has been caused by something at work, look out for these clues:
- your asthma symptoms are worse during the working week, at work or after work;
- your symptoms may get worse after work, or you may find your sleep is disturbed during the night;
- your symptoms improve when you have been away from work for several days (for example when you are on holiday).
Which substances can cause occupational asthma? Substances that can cause asthma are called respiratory sensitizers or asthmagens. Below is a list of the main ones and the jobs where you are most likely to come across them. - Chemicals called isocyanates are the most common cause of occupational asthma in the UK. There are many jobs in which you might be exposed to these chemicals, particularly spray painting, foam moulding using adhesives, and making foundry cores and surface coatings;
- dust from flour and grain, industrial baking, farm work and grain transport;
- wood dust, particularly from hard wood dusts and western red cedar. Carpentry, joinery and sawmilling;
- colophony – this is widely present in soldering fumes but also in glues and some floor cleaners;
- electronics industry;
- dust from latex rubber. any job involving latex gloves, such as nursing or dentistry;
- dust from insects and animals, and from products containing them;
- laboratory work;
- farm work or work with shellfish.
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