NEW YORK.- A new study found that artists, designers, photographers and other entertainment industry workers are five times more likely to have work-related asthma than workers in other fields. Lead study author Dr. Ahmed A. Arif, now of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, stated, "This study confirmed associations between certain industries and asthma, which can assist health agencies on where to target their interventions." Arif and his colleagues investigated the prevalence of work-related asthma and wheezing among US workers by analyzing 1988-1994 data from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES III). Nearly 4% of the more than 6,800 study participants reported work-related asthma and close to 11.5% said they experienced work-related wheezing, the investigators report in the August issue of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.



The increased risk of asthma among entertainment industry workers may potentially be caused by their exposure "to chemicals used in art media, stage set production, theatrical make-up and photographic chemicals," the researchers speculate.



"As national and international health agencies continue to target asthma as a disease of public health importance, a better understanding of environmental causes and triggers of asthma, including those found in certain workplaces, can play an important role in controlling this chronic inflammatory disease," Arif said.