CEC01-02 Chemical Respiratory Allergy: Identification of true chemical respiratory allergens

See Pemberton et al. (2024): Asthma in the workplace (work-related asthma) is an important occupational health issue. It comprises two main subtypes: viz. pre-existing asthma which is exacerbated by work (work-exacerbated asthma or WEA) or asthma caused by work (occupational asthma or OA). The latter can be subdivided in non-allergic irritant-induced occupational asthma (IIOA) and in allergic occupational asthma (AOA). AOA may be fatal.

Current regulatory paradigms for the management of OA are not fit for purpose. For both effective human health protection and appropriate and proportionate regulation there is an important, yet unmet need, that sub-types of work-related asthma can be accurately identified and classified, and that chemical respiratory allergens that drive allergic asthma can be differentiated according to potency.

In my presentation I will address presently available strategies for the diagnosis and characterisation of asthma in the workplace, such as human health studies, clinical investigations and experimental approaches (structure-activity relationships, assessments of chemical reactivity, experimental animal studies and in vitro methods). Each of these approaches has limitations with respect to providing a clear discrimination between WEA and OA, and between AOA and IIOA. Against this background the need for improved characterisation of work-related asthma, in the context of more appropriate regulation is discussed.