BackgroundAlthough occupational contact urticaria (CU) and protein contact dermatitis (PCD) are considered frequent among workers with exposure to proteinaceous materials, data on occupations at risk and the main causes of these occupational skin diseases are relatively limited.ObjectivesTo report the causative agents and risk occupations for CU and PCD in the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases (FROD).MethodsWe retrieved from the FROD all recognized cases of CU/PCD in the years 2005–2016.ResultsWith 570 cases, CU and PCD constituted 11% of all recognized cases of occupational skin diseases in the study period. Occupations with the highest incidence of CU/PCD included bakers, chefs and cooks, farmers and farm workers, veterinarians, gardeners, and hairdressers. The most common causative agents were cow dander and flour and grain, followed by natural rubber latex (NRL) and other food. In food‐related occupations, wheat and other flours were by far the most common cause of CU/PCD, with 76 cases, whereas fish and other animal‐derived food caused 33 and other plant‐derived food caused 23 cases.ConclusionsApart from the Finnish peculiarity of cow dander allergy, a striking finding was a large share of CU/PCD caused by flours in food handlers as compared to other food.

The lung just like all other organs is affected by age. The lung matures by the age of 20 and age-related changes start around middle age, at 40-50 years. Exhaled nitric oxide (FNO) has been shown to be age, height and gender dependent. We hypothesize that the nitric oxide (NO) parameters alveolar NO (CNO), airway flux (JNO), airway diffusing capacity (DNO) and airway wall content (CNO) will also demonstrate this dependence. Data from healthy subjects were gathered by the current authors from their earlier publications in which healthy individuals were included as control subjects. Healthy subjects (n = 433) ranged in age from 7 to 78 years. Age-stratified reference values of the NO parameters were significantly different. Gender differences were only observed in the 20-49 age group. The results from the multiple regression models in subjects older than 20 years revealed that age, height and gender interaction together explained 6% of variation in FNO at 50 ml s (FNO), 4% in JNO, 16% in CNO, 8% in DNO and 12% in CNO. In conclusion, in this study we have generated reference values for NO parameters from an extended NO analysis of healthy subjects. This is important in order to be able to use these parameters in clinical practice.

Dust exposure in foundry work may induce both systemic and alveolar inflammation.

Background: Skin diseases are among the most common occupational diseases, but detailed analyses on their epidemiology, diagnoses, and causes are relatively scarce.Objectives: To analyze data on skin disease in the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases (FROD) for (1) different diagnoses and (2) main causes of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Methods:We retrieved data on recognized cases with occupational skin disease (OSD) in the FROD from a 12-year-period 2005-2016 and used national official labor force data of the year 2012.Results: We analyzed a total of 5265 cases, of which 42% had irritant contact dermatitis (ICD), 35% ACD, 11% contact urticaria/protein contact dermatitis (CU/PCD), and 9% skin infections. The incidence rate of OSD in the total labor force was 18.8 cases/100 000 person years. Skin infections concerned mainly scabies in health care personnel. Twenty-nine per cent of the ACD cases were caused by plastics/resinsrelated allergens, mainly epoxy chemicals. Other important causes for ACD were rubber, preservatives, metals, acrylates, and hairdressing chemicals. Cases of occupational ACD due to isothiazolinones reached a peak in 2014.Conclusion: Our analysis confirms that epoxy products are gaining importance as causes of OSD and the isothiazolinone contact allergy epidemic has started to wane.

Background: Construction workers are a known risk group for occupational skin disease (OSD). Objectives: To study diagnoses and causes of OSD in construction workers in the Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases (FROD) 2005-2016. Materials And Methods: We searched the FROD for dermatological cases in (a) construction-related occupations defined by the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) and (b) in the industrial branch of construction defined by the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2). Results: The two searches yielded the same number of cases, 329, although they were not identical subgroups. The number of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) cases was 235 (71%) in construction-related occupations and 228 (69%) in the industrial branch of construction. In the latter analysis, synthetic resin systems caused 66% of ACD cases and 46% of all OSDs, epoxy compounds being the leading cause (122 cases; 54% of ACD cases; 37% of all OSDs). Metals were the second most common group of causes of ACD with 31 cases (chrome 22 cases; cobalt 8 cases). Isothiazolinones caused ACD in 21 cases, many of whom were painters. Conclusions: ACD dominated the OSDs of construction workers and epoxy products were by far the leading cause comprising 37% of all OSDs. Chrome and isothiazolinones were also prominent causes of ACD.