A team of researchers, from the University of Gothenburg, announced that hairdressers and plumbers are among those most likely to develop asthma. A number of occupations were named as risk factors, thought to be due to high exposure to chemicals and allergens. Other jobs that were associated with problems included nail technicians and hospital workers.
It seems that even though people are aware of the risk of exposure to chemicals and recommended use of safety equipment, it is still the same jobs that cause the most asthma problems. People who have other allergies are also more likely to develop asthma.
The study itself looked at around 13,000 randomly selected adults in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Estonia from 1980 to 2000. During this period 429 of the participants suffered from asthma. In women, seven percent of the cases were attributed to their occupation, for men it was slightly lower, at four percent.
The authors suggested that these findings show how important it is to fully emphasise the dangers of working with chemicals on a daily basis. It is hoped that action with be taken to increase safety measures for people in high-risk jobs.
This research comes as part of an increasing trend around the dangers of the working environment. A study recently linked women working in manufacturing industries to a higher risk factor of breast cancer. It seems that more needs to be done to keep people safe in their workplace, and ensure that their risk of disease is kept to minimum.