The Jobs You Didn’t Know Were Dangerous To Your Health

As a disease highly influenced by environmental causes, the occupational impact on asthma forms a key part of research into the disease. Research published in the online medical journal Thorax suggests that as many as one in six cases of adult asthma have their cause in the workplace. Of a total of eighteen jobs judged to be significant risk factors, the worst offenders were cleaning jobs, and jobs involving exposure to cleaning chemicals.

The highest risk agents for adult-onset asthma were flour, enzymes, cleaning products, metal fumes and textile production, thus implicating all associated professions. Of the eighteen jobs found to present dangers to bronchial health, cleaning occupations of different types related to seven. Other risk factors include; hairdressing, which doubles the risk; printing, which triples it; and farming, which more than quadruples the risk of developing asthma as an adult.

The study highlights the occupational hazards of the workplace. Of the study’s participants, only one in four had lived their working life without being exposed to a high-risk occupation. One in ten (8%) participants had been exposed to high risk agents during the course of their working life, and a further 28 per cent had been exposed to substances considered low-risk for asthma. An alarming 34 per cent had been exposed to both low-risk and high-risk substances.

Results were taken from a long-term study of 9,500 British adults of the ‘baby boomer’ generation. Questionnaires relating to asthma and bronchial health were given at the ages of 7, 11, 16, 33 and 42, and all participants were then tested for lung power and allergies by the age of 45. Work history formed a central part of the sequence of lifestyle questionnaires submitted by the participants.

The overall influence of occupation on asthma rates is now judged to be 16 per cent, thanks to the study. The findings are more than just significant for adult-onset asthma – they actually represent dramatic news for occupational wellness as a whole. This research stands as a motivation for workers to seek membership of a strong and well-informed trade union that can look out for every area of their wellbeing. The need to start talking about lobbying for big business to have more liability for the health issues of their employees is ongoing.