Assessing occupational and environmental exposures that cause lung disease.
The approach to hazard identification and exposure characterization presented in this article will help physicians assess the likelihood that their patients with respiratory illness have relevant exposures in their work, home, or other environments. The clinician will identify potentially important exposures and s/he will develop an estimate of the level, duration, and frequency of exposure. With experience, such histories provide information critical to the recognition of occupational and environmental lung disease. Successful identification of such exposures provides an opportunity to halt, and even reverse, lung disease that can otherwise become chronic and progressive.
Bracker
Anne
A
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-6210, USA. bracker@nso.uchc.edu
Storey
Eileen
E
D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors