Britain tallies escalating costs of occupational asthma in new study

LONDON -- Occupational asthma is causing substantial financial losses to government and health agencies, says a study published in the medical journal Thorax and reported in the British press this week.

The analysis discovered that chemicals commonly linked to work-related cases were identified as isocyanates, latex and biocides (e.g., glutaraldehyde) or flour, present in materials like adhesives, wood dust, spray paints and foam molding. The economic cost reaches more than $213 million each year.

The team of researchers from environmental and occupational medicine and the finance department from the universities of Birmingham, Bath and Edinburgh also explained in their summary that “about 49% of these costs were borne by the individual, 48% by the state and 3% by the employer.” There was therefore little incentive for the employer to make changes in the workplace, the summary said.

Neil Churchill, head of Asthma UK, told the Daily Telegraph, “Occupational asthma is the most frequently reported work-related respiratory disease in the UK … Over a quarter of people with asthma have missed days off work as a result of their symptoms and 32% of people with asthma tell us that their employer is not doing enough to protect them from asthma at work.”

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