title: [Occupational asthma due to isocyanates: current research orientation in occupational hygiene].
abstract: The replacement of the HDI monomer by less volatile prepolymers is not accompanied by a decrease of the incidence of occupational asthma in Switzerland. Field measurements show that the prepolymer concentration levels may be high although the monomer is hardly detectable or complies with the norm. Our researches are focused on the improvement of generation and measurement techniques (international quality control), on the characterization of the prepolymers to study their transformation in biological media. Field surveys will be conducted to establish the prepolymer concentration profiles. We recommend for the introduction in Switzerland of threshold limit values for HDI-biuret and isocyanurate.
authors.affiliation: Institut universitaire de médecine et d'hygiène du travail, Lausanne.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vu-Duc
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Savolainen
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003485:Cyanates / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D017953:Isocyanates / Q000633:toxicity; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D003485:Cyanates; D017953:Isocyanates; C015262:1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate
vernacular_title: Asthme professionnel dû aux isocyanates: nouvelles orientations des recherches en hygiène du travail.