Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador
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...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:oemed:67/1/17 2023-05-15T17:21:56+02:00 Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador Gautrin, D Cartier, A Howse, D Horth-Susin, L Jong, M Swanson, M Lehrer, S Fox, G Neis, B 2010-01-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/67/1/17 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 en eng BMJ Publishing Group Ltd http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/67/1/17 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 Copyright (C) 2010, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd Original articles TEXT 2010 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 2013-05-28T10:10:13Z 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. Text Newfoundland Snow crab HighWire Press (Stanford University) Canada Newfoundland Occupational and Environmental Medicine 67 1 17 23 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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Original articles |
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Original articles Gautrin, D Cartier, A Howse, D Horth-Susin, L Jong, M Swanson, M Lehrer, S Fox, G Neis, B Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
topic_facet |
Original articles |
description |
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. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gautrin, D Cartier, A Howse, D Horth-Susin, L Jong, M Swanson, M Lehrer, S Fox, G Neis, B |
author_facet |
Gautrin, D Cartier, A Howse, D Horth-Susin, L Jong, M Swanson, M Lehrer, S Fox, G Neis, B |
author_sort |
Gautrin, D |
title |
Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_short |
Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_full |
Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_fullStr |
Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_full_unstemmed |
Occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_sort |
occupational asthma and allergy in snow crab processing in newfoundland and labrador |
publisher |
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/67/1/17 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 |
geographic |
Canada Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland Snow crab |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland Snow crab |
op_relation |
http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/67/1/17 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2010, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2008.039578 |
container_title |
Occupational and Environmental Medicine |
container_volume |
67 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
17 |
op_container_end_page |
23 |
_version_ |
1766107963783643136 |