Occupational lung disease means a disease develops in your lungs due to chronic exposure to air pollution while on the job. Your lungs are steadily taking in air from the surrounding environment. There are a variety of work related activities that commonly generate health harming particles, vapors or gases. And because of your job’s location, particularly those in an enclosed area, you could be breathing a high concentration of air pollutants without really realizing it. Yet, taking in highly polluted air over an extended period can lead to an array of long lasting lung problems.
Which type of occupational lung disease develops depends on the nature of particles inhaled and where they end up. Thankfully, your respiratory system has several mechanisms that help prevent undesirable stuff from going to far or accumulating. For instance, the big ones can become trapped in your nose or upper airway, whereas the tiny ones may be brushed upwards by cilia, entrapped in mucus and coughed up, engulfed by macrophages, or dissolved and absorbed by the blood. But relying on these defenses to protect you all of the time under any circumstance is very risky business.
There are some occupations that put you at a higher risk than others for lung disease, for example miners, firefighters, factory workers, construction workers, road workers, farmers, bakers, auto workers and sandblasters. Initially, you may be unaware the air you are breathing is causing an insult to your lungs. Over time, you may start experiencing some of these common symptoms:
- dyspnea
- coughing
- chest pain
- chest tightness
Fine particle in the air tend to do the most damage because they can be easily inhaled deep into your lungs. Types of occupational lung diseases that can result from workplace exposure include:
- COPD
- silicosis
- stannosis
- berylliosis
- byssinosis
- asbestosis
- lung cancer
- mesothelioma
- pneumoconiosis
- occupational asthma
- sick building syndrome
- hypersensitivity pneumonitis
In some work environments, too much gas in the air can cause asphyxiation due to insufficient oxygen.
Many lung diseases related to an occupation can be prevented by lowering your level of exposure. Proper ventilation and wearing a mask helps reduce some of the risk. But even better is limiting the time spent on a job in dirty air.