A new systematic literature review concludes that there is strong and consistent evidence that many dusts and fumes are risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This paper has investigated the associations between occupational-attributable COPD and workplace exposures. The authors identified over 4,500 relevant epidemiological articles in a comprehensive search of the peer-reviewed literature. They excluded articles that had no lung function measurements, insufficient details of the occupational exposure, no account of age or smoking, or other serious inadequacies and then based the research on just 147 informative studies. The identified agents included welding fume, coke dust, coal, asphalt, silica, cement, tunnel work, cadmium, bleach, cotton, flax, jute, farming, grain, wood, rubber and endotoxins. According to the authors there was a “nearly uniform pattern” of exposure–response relationships between the various exposures and COPD. The review provides further evidence that occupational exposure to dust and fumes are risk factors for COPD. The paper can be downloaded here.
