Prevention of Work-related Asthma: Study Search Results

Study Details

Prevention Level	Primary
Author	Sorgdrager
Study Year	1998
Country	Netherlands
Molecular Weight of Agent	LMW
Category	Metals
Agent	Aluminum
Occupation	Aluminum workers
Outcome/Diagnosis	Occupational asthma
Activity Intervention	Reduction in exposure through improved technology (1974), health surveillance (1982-1990) Monitoring of dust and flouride levels in the working atmosphere. Improved technology consisted of hooded pots, pots cleaned by dry-scrubbing process, high-exposure tasks performed by computer-controlled robots, and use of ventilated cabin or antidust mask for other tasks. Health surveillance consisted of pre-employment examination (using bronchial reactivity), and annual spirometry, questionnaire, urinary analysis of fluoride uptake.
Participation Rate	2845 person-years of observation between 1970 and 1990 Limitation: no report of participation rate
Intervention Effectiveness	The incidence density of potroom asthma increased from 7.1 per 100 person-years during 1970-1975 to 11.6 per 100 person-years during 1976-1981, and then decreased to 2.5 per 100 person-years during 1982-1990. No exposure data recorded during 1970-1975.