PMID- 8162997
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19940526
LR  - 20130523
IS  - 0903-1936 (Print)
IS  - 0903-1936 (Linking)
VI  - 7
IP  - 2
DP  - 1994 Feb
TI  - Occupational asthma due to heated polypropylene.
PG  - 415-7
AB  - A 35 year-old nonatopic woman was referred to the hospital for possible 
      work-related asthma. She had worked as an operator, at a plant producing 
      polypropylene bags, for the previous four yrs. Her main complaint was a 
      productive cough with dyspnoea and wheezing, as well as rhinitis over the past 3 
      yrs. She had been absent from work for 6 months on maternity leave, and had 
      improved greatly. She was on a beta 2-adrenergic agent and had to take it at 
      least four times daily. Baseline spirometry whilst at work showed marked airflow 
      obstruction (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of 43% predicted 
      (pred). After two months away from work FEV1 improved to 89% pred; provocative 
      concentration of histamine causing a 25% fall in FEV1 (PC20) was 3.6 mg.ml-1 
      (mild airway hyperresponsiveness). Return to work resulted in a marked 
      deterioration in FEV1, and serial peak expiratory flow (PEFR) values. PC20 was 
      0.11 mg.ml-1 (severe airway hyperresponsiveness) one week after she had returned 
      to work. Specific inhalation challenges with polypropylene heated to 250 degrees 
      C resulted in a late asthmatic reaction. As formaldehyde is one of the 
      degradation products of heating polypropylene, we exposed her to it for up to 2 
      h, but we elicited no bronchospastic reaction. We conclude that heated 
      polypropylene should be listed as one of the agents that causes occupational 
      asthma.
FAU - Malo, J L
AU  - Malo JL
AD  - Dept of Chest Medicine, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur, Montreal, Canada.
FAU - Cartier, A
AU  - Cartier A
FAU - Pineault, L
AU  - Pineault L
FAU - Dugas, M
AU  - Dugas M
FAU - Desjardins, A
AU  - Desjardins A
LA  - eng
PT  - Case Reports
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Eur Respir J
JT  - The European respiratory journal
JID - 8803460
RN  - 0 (Polypropylenes)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Asthma/*chemically induced/physiopathology
MH  - Bronchial Hyperreactivity/physiopathology
MH  - Bronchial Provocation Tests
MH  - Female
MH  - Hot Temperature
MH  - Humans
MH  - Occupational Diseases/*chemically induced/physiopathology
MH  - Occupational Exposure/*adverse effects
MH  - Polypropylenes/*adverse effects
MH  - Spirometry
EDAT- 1994/02/01 00:00
MHDA- 1994/02/01 00:01
CRDT- 1994/02/01 00:00
PHST- 1994/02/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1994/02/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1994/02/01 00:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Eur Respir J. 1994 Feb;7(2):415-7.