Preventing Allergies at Work Takes a Multi-Pronged Approach

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Preventing Allergies at Work Takes a Multi-Pronged Approach

Sneezing, Itching, Watering and Aching With Frustration From

Allergies at Work

ABC News*

By RADHA CHITALE

ABC News Medical Unit

Sept. 3, 2008

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AllergiesNews/Story?id=5710083 & page=1

About once a month, DeFlorimonte had to change a ceiling

panel in one corner of her office at work, encrusted as it was with

black mold. This pattern continued for seven years, over the course

of which DeFlorimonte, 60, suffered from a barrage of respiratory

problems.

" It was hell living through it, " DeFlorimonte said. " I was at the

doctor's office every few months, " constantly sneezing, coughing,

and experiencing respiratory infections, she said.

Her mold allergies, and the medications she took to relieve them,

made DeFlorimonte, a reading specialist at a land grade school,

miserable -- and less productive.

But many go through the work day under similar duress, enduring

allergies and allergy-like symptoms caused by their work

environment.

" Allergies in the workplace is a bigger issue than a lot of

employers give credit for, " said Mike Tringale, director of External

Affairs at the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. " Many

employers have not stepped up to that plate. "

While prevention may be difficult, or in some cases impossible,

there are a few proactive things one can do in order to make the

itchy, watery, fatigue-causing symptoms less problematic.

The Root of the Problem

Diagnosing an allergy or a sensitivity can help determine what the

problem is and where it might be coming from. DeFlorimonte's doctor

diagnosed her with a severe mold allergy, one that did not bother

her when she took time away from the office.

But often symptoms are non-specific and can include irritation in

the air and nasal passages, burning eyes, headaches and fatigue. If

these types of symptoms come on after an hour in the workplace and

resolve within an hour after leaving, the office environment itself

may be to blame, according Dr. Karin Pacheco, an occupational

medicine specialist at the National Jewish Medical and Research

Center in Denver, Colorado.

The two elements that can wreak havoc on buildings and sicken

employees are water and air. Dampness, from leaks or condensation,

creates ideal conditions for irritants like mold. Poor ventilation

and filtration means the air stagnates and can contain higher

concentrations

In most cases, doctors recommend bringing the problem up with a

manager or supervisor, as well as the building's health and safety

officer, if there is one, in order to attack the problems at their

root.

Solutions could include fixing leaks and plumbing problems and

replacing old, moldy carpet and furniture, which can also have dust

mites in them, another common indoor allergen. Better ventilation

and filtration systems can help refresh the air and clear it of

irritants.

" The only solution is getting that underlying exposure cleared up, "

said Dr. Sublett, section chief of Pediatric Allergy and

Immunology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in

Louisville, Ky. " You can't just clean it up and not fix the

underlying problem. "

Although repairing and maintaining the infrastructure of a work

environment in order to keep it up to snuff can be very

expensive, " more and more people are seeing the economic arguments

for doing so, " said Andy Persily, vice president of the American

Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

" The most expensive thing in the building is not the energy, it's

the salaries of the people, " Persily pointed out. And unproductive

employees can cost a company far more than a leaky roof.

Sometimes fragrances or chemicals from new furniture or cleaning

supplies may be to blame for those nonspecific symptoms, Pacheco

said. In these cases, an employee might propose implementing a

fragrance-free office environment, with help from management.

Allergy Detectives

Occasionally, a work allergy has an easy fix. Sublett recalled a

patient of his who came to him reporting terrible allergic symptoms

and he discovered she was allergic to cats. It turned out that her

cubby-mate at work had three cats and was exposing her co-worker to

those allergens.

" As allergists, we're environmental detectives, " Sublett said. What

the patient says, the clinical diagnosis and environmental

evaluation can all help to connect the dots.

The phenomenon where people are only ill inside a particular

building is often nebulously dubbed Sick Building Syndrome or

Building Related Illness because of the location-specific but non-

specific symptoms. These names and the number of scenarios to which

they can be applied underscore Pacheco's point that this problem is

difficult to identify, diagnose, and treat.

For any affliction of this type, management support and attention to

detail is crucial. Without care, the underlying cause may never be

corrected, as happened to DeFlorimonte.

" I didn't feel they were doing all they could, " DeFlorimonte said of

the administration at her school. Though she brought up her mold

allergy and its resulting symptoms with the principal and vice

principal often, they only went as far as changing the ceiling

panels without fixing the building leaks.

" It was putting a band-aid on the problem, " she said

After seven years of her mold-infested work environment,

DeFlorimonte took a year-long sabbatical to get some rest and work

on other projects. Her respiratory problems cleared up right away.

" It was dramatic, it was a dramatic change, " she said. The feeling

was such a revelation, Deflorimonte decided not to return to her old

job and began working at another school in land.

" I've been fine, " she said. " I haven't even had a cold. "

DeFlorimonte's decision to quit her job represents one extreme

solution for allergy sufferers at work.

Unfortunately, as Pacheco pointed out, work-related allergies may

not lend themselves to too much self help. Using facemasks, fans or

applying hand sanitizer are not effective ways to combat the

irritating symptoms because they don't tackle the source of the

problem.

" People need a higher level of awareness and an interest in doing it

right, " Persily said.