About Work-Related Asthma

Asthma is a lung disease. People with asthma sometimes have a hard time breathing, wheezing, chest tightness, and cough.

Asthma has increased in the U.S. and in California in the last decade. It is estimated that workplace exposures are responsible for 15-30% of all new asthma cases among adults in the U.S. Work-related asthma includes new cases caused by exposures at work, as well as asthma that is made worse by conditions at work.

There are over 320 substances known to cause new asthma in people who did not have it before. Sometimes people can work around a substance for many years without a problem. They can later become sensitized, or allergic, to the substance and get new asthma. Also, any irritating substance or common allergen can worsen asthma symptoms in a person who already has asthma. 

Fact Sheets & Booklets

Guidance & Reports Produced by the Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program (WRAPP)

• Asthma in California: A Surveillance Report – Chapter 5: Work-related Asthma (PDF) | executive summary (PDF) | full report (PDF) (5.9MB, 194 pages) May 2013

• The Strategic Plan for Asthma in California, 2015-2019 (PDF)

Webinars, Trainings, & Videos

• Video: Healthy Cleaning and Asthma-Safer Schools – October 2014

• Green Cleaning Webinar – webinar sponsored by Labor Occupational Health Program's School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) program, July 2013

Journal Articles

• Fragrances and work-related asthma–California surveillance data, 1993–2012 – journal article abstract, 2017

• Isocyanates and Work-Related Asthma: Findings From California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey, 1993–2008 - journal article, 2015

• Work-Related Asthma — 22 States, 2012 – MMWR report, 2015

• Gender Differences in Work-Related Asthma: Surveillance Data from California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey, 1993-2008 – journal article abstract, 2014

• State-Based, Work-Related Asthma Surveillance Data Online – MMWR announcement, 2012

• Work-Related Asthma — 38 States and District of Columbia, 2006–2009 – MMWR report, 2012

• Primary Prevention of Occupational Asthma: identifying and controlling exposures to asthma-causing agents – journal article abstract, 2008

• The Proportion of Self-Reported Asthma Associated with Work in Three States: California, Massachusetts, and Michigan, 2001 – journal article abstract, 2006

• A Descriptive Study of Work-Aggravated Asthma – journal article abstract, 2004

• Processes of Care for Individuals with Work-Related Asthma – journal article abstract, 2004

• Work-Related Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome – Cases from Surveillance in Selected U.S. States – journal article abstract, 2003

• Physician Reports of Work-Related Asthma in California, 1993-1996  – journal article abstract, 2001

• Surveillance of Work-Related Asthma in Selected U.S. States 1993-1995 – MMWR report, 1999

Newsletters & Announcements

• Work-Related Asthma in the ER - OHB newsletter, May 2019

• Disinfectants Can Cause Asthma - OHB newsletter, May 2017

• California Workers Get Asthma From Their Jobs – OHB newsletter, May 2013

Additional Work-Related Asthma Resources

• CDC/NIOSH – work-related asthma and allergies page

• Association of Occupational & Environmental Clinics (AOEC)  – searchable database of work-related asthma-causing substances

• American Lung Association – work-related asthma information

• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology – fact sheet on work-related asthma

• Michigan work-related asthma – web site

• California Breathing – projects and resources for addressing asthma in California

General Asthma Resources

• General Asthma Topic Page

• National Environmental Education Foundation Guidelines

Laws & Regulations Relevant to Work-Related Asthma Prevention

• California's Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM)

• California's Anti-Idling Regulations for Truck and Bus Drivers (PDF)

• California's Heavy-Duty Vehicle Idling Emission Reduction Program