Abstract
ABSTRACTBackground: Seafood processing workers have an increased risk of developing occupational asthma. This has not been studied among Norwegian crab processing workers, nor has the respiratory health of exposed workers been compared to a control group.Objectives: Assessing the impact of working in the crab processing industry on workers’ respiratory health.Design: A cross-sectional study of the respiratory health in two types of crab processing workers compared to a control group.Methods: The study included 148 king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) workers, 70 edible crab (Cancer pagurus) workers and 215 controls. Workers answered a questionnaire and performed spirometry measurements. χ2 and Fishers exact tests were performed on self-reported respiratory symptoms. Regression analyses and t-tests were used to assess lung function values.Results: Self-reported respiratory symptoms were higher among crab processing workers compared to controls, and higher among king crab workers compared to edible crab workers. There was no significant difference between crab processing workers and controls in lung function measurements. Self-reported doctor-diagnosed asthma prevalence was highest in the control group.Conclusions: Increased respiratory symptoms reported by crab processing workers were not reflected in impaired lung function values or asthma diagnose. We suggest a healthy worker effect among crab processing workers in Norway.
Highlights
Seafood processing workers have an increased risk of developing occupational asthma
This study demonstrates that working in king crab and edible crab processing plants is associated with greater levels of respiratory symptoms compared to a healthy control population
The respiratory symptoms were not reflected by impaired lung function values or increased asthma diagnosis
Summary
Seafood processing workers have an increased risk of developing occupational asthma This has not been studied among Norwegian crab processing workers, nor has the respiratory health of exposed workers been compared to a control group. Bioaerosols from air samples collected in the seafood industry have been found to contain high-molecularweight proteins, microorganisms, endotoxins and enzymes [9,10,11,12,13,14] These bioaerosol components have previously been identified as risk factors for immunological sensitisation, respiratory symptoms, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and occupational asthma [1,5,7,8,15,16,17,18,19]. Workers stand closely together and use automated brushes that rotate at a high speeds and conveyer belts to transport the crab
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