If the air you breathe at work contains an excessive amount of dust, fumes, smoke, gases, vapors or mists, you may be at risk for a lung disease. Workers who smoke are at a much greater risk of lung disease if they are exposed to substances in the workplace that cause lung disease. Poor ventilation, closed-in working areas and heat increase the risk. Outside air pollution can also increase the risk of lung disease in people who work in jobs that expose them to substances that can cause lung disease.
Many substances found in the workplace can cause breathing problems.
Dusts from such things as wood, cotton, coal, asbestos, silica and talc. Dust from cereal grains, coffee, pesticides, drug or enzyme powders, metals and fiberglass can also hurt your lungs. Fumes such as from metals that are heated and cooled quickly. This process results in fine, solid particles being carried in the air. Examples of jobs that involve exposure to fumes from metals and other substances that are heated and cooled quickly include welding, smelting, furnace work, pottery making, plastics manufacture and rubber operations.