230387 Occupational Asthma among Bakers: A Meta-analysis

Monday, November 8, 2010

Clement Giraneza, BS , School of Public Health, FIU Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Miami, FL
Nicolas Applyrs, BS , School of Public Health, FIU Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Miami, FL
Michael A. Melchior, MPH, PhD(c) , Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, FIU Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Miami, FL
Janvier Gasana, MD PhD , Environmental & Occupational Health, FIU Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Miami, FL
Background The incidence of asthma among bakers has become one of the most common occupation-related developments of respiratory symptoms; it is known as Baker's asthma. Baker's asthma is thought to be the result of prolonged exposure to allergens and flour dust found in bakeries. The exposure to the flour dust, other enzymes found at their workplace and other allergens has been the focus of studies to understand how bakers develop respiratory symptoms. Methods Research of articles pertaining to “baker's asthma” and “incidence of asthma in millers and bakers” in online medical search engines, such as PubMed, Medline, and Highwire yielded various studies on the subjects. While the recent articles, written in the last 5 years, illustrated the progress achieved in the study of baker's asthma to date, the older articles, going back from 1984, gave important insight into the various studies done over time to better understand baker's asthma. Results Studies have shown that exposure is the main reason behind developing respiratory symptoms in the baking industry. Enzymes, allergens such as gliadins, and other types of flour (i.e. rye flour) have proven to be at the source of onset respiratory symptoms. Continued exposure for susceptible people to those elements will result in onsets of asthma in bakers. Conclusion Studies have brought light to certain aspect of it, but further research needs to be done to better understand it and find solutions to avoid development of respiratory symptoms.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Occupational health and safety
Public health biology
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1) Describe the incidence of occupational asthma in the baking industry 2) Identify the exposure time period and amount of allergens, flour dust, and enzymes that are linked to asthma

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Masters of Public Health student and I have been working on meta-analysis of asthma in the workplace.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.