Nearly half of all adult asthma cases – 48 percent -- might be related to work – and thus, preventable -- according to a study published in the CDC’sMMWR last month. This finding means as many as 2.7 million U.S. workers might have asthma caused by or exacerbated by workplace conditions.
Researchers Katelynn E. Dodd, MPH, and Jacek M. Mazurek, MD, used data from the 2006–2007 adult Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Asthma Call-back Survey (ACBS) to quantify potential occupationally-associated asthma cases and to identify the workers most at risk, by industry and state.