Allergy-Related Disorders in the Construction Industry

Table 1

Distribution of suspected causal agents for asthma in skilled tradesmen reported to UK Health and Occupation Reporting Network by respiratory specialists and occupational physicians from 2002 to 2008 (Source: Stocks et al., 2011) [31].

Suspected causal agents for asthma	Skilled metal and electrical tradesmen		Skilled construction and building tradesmen
	Chest physicians 𝑛=230	Occup. physicians 𝑛=24	Chest physicians 𝑛=26
	Agents 𝑛=240, n (%)	Agents 𝑛=32, n (%)	Agents 𝑛=26, n (%)
Metalworking fluids/coolants	59 (25)	1 (3)	0
Cobalt	8 (3)	0	0
Zinc	12 (5)	1 (3)	0
Chrome and its compounds	22 (9)	0	0
Other metals	11 (5)	0	0
Welding fumes	24 (10)	2 (6)	1 (4)
Wood and wood dust	0	0	11 (42)
Oils/greases	1 (1)	3 (9)	1 (4)
Solvents/fuel oil	5 (2)	7 (22)	0
Paints and dyes	9 (4)	3 (9)	5 (19)
Isocyanates	60 (25)	13 (41)	4 (15)
Formaldehyde	3 (1)	0	0
Other fumes and gases	7 (3)	0	0
Others	19 (8)	2 (6)	4 (15)