Glass bottle workers exposed to low-dose irritant fumes cough but do not wheeze

摘要

Workers exposed to irritant fumes experience symptoms both during the acute episode and after- wards. High-dose irritant exposure can result in permanent asthma, but the effects of chronic low- dose irritant exposure are not known. Glass bottle workers are exposed to irritant fumes, and have previously been reported to have an excess of symptoms. We designed a study to compare irritant- exposed glass bottle workers with hospital workers matched for socioeconomic group, area of resi- dence, age, sex, smoking habit, and allergic history.