Occupational lung diseases in Australia

© 2017 AMPCo Pty Ltd. Produced with Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. · Occupational exposures are an important determinant of respiratory health. International estimates note that about 15% of adult-onset asthma, 15% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 10e30% of lung cancer may be attribu...

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Main Authors: Hoy, R., Brims, Fraser
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australasian Medical Publishing 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61839
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author Hoy, R.
Brims, Fraser
author_facet Hoy, R.
Brims, Fraser
author_sort Hoy, R.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017 AMPCo Pty Ltd. Produced with Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. · Occupational exposures are an important determinant of respiratory health. International estimates note that about 15% of adult-onset asthma, 15% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 10e30% of lung cancer may be attributable to hazardous occupational exposures. One-quarter of working asthmatics either have had their asthma caused by work or adversely affected by workplace conditions. · Recently, cases of historical occupational lung diseases have been noted to occur with new exposures, such as cases of silicosis in workers fabricating kitchen benchtops from artificial stone products. · Identification of an occupational cause of a lung disease can be difficult and requires maintaining a high index of suspicion. When an occupational lung disease is identified, this may facilitate a cure and help to protect coworkers. · Currently, very little information is collected regarding actual cases of occupational lung diseases in Australia. Most assumptions about many occupational lung diseases are based on extrapolation from overseas data. This lack of information is a major impediment to development of targeted interventions and timely identification of new hazardous exposures. · All employers, governments and health care providers in Australia have a responsibility to ensure that the highest possible standards are in place to protect workers’ respiratory health.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-618392018-02-01T05:56:15Z Occupational lung diseases in Australia Hoy, R. Brims, Fraser © 2017 AMPCo Pty Ltd. Produced with Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. · Occupational exposures are an important determinant of respiratory health. International estimates note that about 15% of adult-onset asthma, 15% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 10e30% of lung cancer may be attributable to hazardous occupational exposures. One-quarter of working asthmatics either have had their asthma caused by work or adversely affected by workplace conditions. · Recently, cases of historical occupational lung diseases have been noted to occur with new exposures, such as cases of silicosis in workers fabricating kitchen benchtops from artificial stone products. · Identification of an occupational cause of a lung disease can be difficult and requires maintaining a high index of suspicion. When an occupational lung disease is identified, this may facilitate a cure and help to protect coworkers. · Currently, very little information is collected regarding actual cases of occupational lung diseases in Australia. Most assumptions about many occupational lung diseases are based on extrapolation from overseas data. This lack of information is a major impediment to development of targeted interventions and timely identification of new hazardous exposures. · All employers, governments and health care providers in Australia have a responsibility to ensure that the highest possible standards are in place to protect workers’ respiratory health. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61839 10.5694/mja17.00601 Australasian Medical Publishing restricted
spellingShingle Hoy, R.
Brims, Fraser
Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title_full Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title_fullStr Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title_full_unstemmed Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title_short Occupational lung diseases in Australia
title_sort occupational lung diseases in australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61839