Guest Author - Amy Anaruk

For the week ending July 28, 2007.

Since I became editor of this page, I�ve been testing several formats. Today is the last day of this Asthma Weekly News feature. From now on, I�ll send interesting news and research links in the newsletter and post them on the forum, where I can update more regularly. Please subscribe to the newsletter using the link to the right or visit the forum to keep reading more news and research from the world of asthma and air quality. Subscribing to the newsletter is free. Your email address remains private, and you can cancel your subscription at any time. Thanks for reading!


U.S. Schoolchildren Exposed to Unnecessary Pesticides

Eighty percent of U.S. schools use regular pesticides even when not needed, according to an Indiana University researcher, and this practice is a health hazard to schoolchildren.

Entomologist and Professor Marc Lame notes that most of these insecticides are nerve poisons, which cause breathing problems like asthma in humans. Children in particular are susceptible because their smaller size means more exposure than adults, and their nervous systems are still developing and therefore vulnerable to damage.

Adapted from an Indiana University press release.


Jobs with Highest Occupational Asthma Risk

European researchers followed almost 7,000 international study participants for 9 years to discover how many would go on to develop asthma. None of the individuals had any symptoms of asthma at the beginning of the study, but certain professions virtually ensured development of asthma. The results from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey?

(numbers denote percentages of individuals in that profession who developed asthma)

Printers 137%
Nurses 122%
Woodworkers 122%
Agricultural workers 85%
Cleaners 71%

Occupational asthma develops after prolonged exposure to workplace chemicals and/or airborne substances. These higher-than-expected numbers could partially explain the drastic increase in asthma cases in industrialized countries, according to the study authors.

Study published in the July edition of The Lancet.


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"Smile, breathe and go slowly." -Thich Nhat Hanh



This article is not written by a medical professional, and information on this page should never be substituted for your physician's advice. If you have any questions about your asthma and/or allergies, you should always contact your physician first.