Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Issue 1 (6th September 2009)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Issue 1 (6th September 2009)
- Main Title:
- Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador
- Authors:
- Gautrin, D
Cartier, A
Howse, D
Horth-Susin, L
Jong, M
Swanson, M
Lehrer, S
Fox, G
Neis, B - Abstract:
- Abstract : Background: Risk factors and prevalence of occupational asthma (OA) and occupational allergy (OAl) in the snow crab-processing industry have been poorly studied. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of OA and OAl in snow crab-processing workers and determine their relationship with exposure to snow crab allergens and other potential risk factors. Methods: A total of 215 workers (120 female/95 male) were recruited from four plants in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in 2001–2002. Results from questionnaires, skin-prick tests to snow crab meat and cooking water, specific IgEs against the latter, spirometry and peak flow monitoring were used to develop a diagnostic algorithm. An index based on work history and exposure measurements of snow crab aeroallergens was developed to estimate the cumulative exposure for each worker. Results: The prevalences of almost certain or highly probable OA and OAl were 15.8% and 14.9%, respectively. A high cumulative exposure to crab allergens, in jobs mostly held by women, was associated with OA (odds ratio (OR) = 14.0, 95% CI 3.0 to 65.8) (highest vs lowest Cumulative Exposure Index) and with OAl (OR = 7.1, 95% CI 1.9 to 29.0); job held when symptoms started (cleaning, packing, freezing) also predicted OA (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.6 to 8.7) and OAl (OR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 7.5). Atopy (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.8), female gender (OR = 10.7, 95% CI 3.6 to 32.1) and smoking were significant determinants for OA (OR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.3 toAbstract : Background: Risk factors and prevalence of occupational asthma (OA) and occupational allergy (OAl) in the snow crab-processing industry have been poorly studied. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of OA and OAl in snow crab-processing workers and determine their relationship with exposure to snow crab allergens and other potential risk factors. Methods: A total of 215 workers (120 female/95 male) were recruited from four plants in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in 2001–2002. Results from questionnaires, skin-prick tests to snow crab meat and cooking water, specific IgEs against the latter, spirometry and peak flow monitoring were used to develop a diagnostic algorithm. An index based on work history and exposure measurements of snow crab aeroallergens was developed to estimate the cumulative exposure for each worker. Results: The prevalences of almost certain or highly probable OA and OAl were 15.8% and 14.9%, respectively. A high cumulative exposure to crab allergens, in jobs mostly held by women, was associated with OA (odds ratio (OR) = 14.0, 95% CI 3.0 to 65.8) (highest vs lowest Cumulative Exposure Index) and with OAl (OR = 7.1, 95% CI 1.9 to 29.0); job held when symptoms started (cleaning, packing, freezing) also predicted OA (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.6 to 8.7) and OAl (OR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 7.5). Atopy (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.8), female gender (OR = 10.7, 95% CI 3.6 to 32.1) and smoking were significant determinants for OA (OR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.3 to 7.4). Conclusions: The prevalences of OA and OAl are high in snow crab-processing workers of Canada's East Coast. Cumulative exposure to snow crab allergens was related to the prevalences of OA and OAl in a dose–response manner taking into account atopy, gender and smoking. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Occupational and environmental medicine. Volume 67:Issue 1(2010)
- Journal:
- Occupational and environmental medicine
- Issue:
- Volume 67:Issue 1(2010)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 67, Issue 1 (2010)
- Year:
- 2010
- Volume:
- 67
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2010-0067-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 17
- Page End:
- 23
- Publication Date:
- 2009-09-06
- Subjects:
- Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals
Environmental health -- Periodicals
616.980305 - Journal URLs:
- http://oem.bmj.com/ ↗
http://www.jstor.org/journals/13510711.html ↗
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/tocrender.fcgi?journal=172&action=archive ↗
http://www.bmj.com/archive ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1136/oem.2008.039578 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1351-0711
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
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- 18330.xml