Occupational asthma due to chromium.
We describe a 28-year-old subject employed as a roofer in a construction company since the age of 19, who developed work-related symptoms of a cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, rhinitis and headaches. A description of a usual day at work suggested that the symptoms worsened while he was sawing corrugated fiber cement. Baseline spirometry was normal, and there was a mild bronchial hyperresponsiveness to carbachol. A skin patch test to chromium was negative. A specific inhalation challenge showed a boderline fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) after exposure to fiber cement dust. Exposure to nebulization of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), at 0.1 mg.ml-1 for 30 min, was followed by an immediate fall by 20% FEV1. Simultaneously, a significant increase in bronchial hyperresponsiveness was demonstrated.
Department of Chest Medicine, Hôpital de la Cavale Blanche, Hôpital Morvan, Brest, France.
C
C
Leroyer
J D
JD
Dewitte
A
A
Bassanets
M
M
Boutoux
C
C
Daniel
J
J
Clavier
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity; D002217:Carbachol; D002857:Chromium / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D011192:Potassium Dichromate / Q000494:pharmacology; D012882:Skin Tests
D002857:Chromium; D002217:Carbachol; D011192:Potassium Dichromate