TY - JOUR T1 - Incident rhinitis is related to dust and rye exposure among baker's apprentices JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - 352 AU - Torben Sigsgaard Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/352.abstract N2 - Background: Baker's asthma and rhinitis are related to occupational exposure with an exposure-response relationship for prevalence and incidence. This study was a prospective study to estimate: The dose response relation between new onset asthma and rhinitis and the exposure to personal dust and allergens in baker apprentices during their apprenticeship.Methods: Participants were recruited from baker schools. Baker apprentices without previous occupational exposure to flour, was followed for 1 (n=187) to 36 month (n=86).They were examined every 4th month. Personal (n = 79) exposure to dust, rye- and wheat antigen were performed 1 or 2 times in each bakery. Cox proportional methods were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR).Results: We found 42 new cases of rhinitis and 27 of asthma like symptoms.The dust and allergen levels were: dust Mean (SD) 1.9 (1.6), rye 0.8 (0.7) and wheat 0.8 (0.5) mg/m3.The HR for high exposure to personal dust controlling for atopy was increased for rhinitis, table 1.View this table:Table 1. Cox proportional hazard modelling of Rhinitis with exposureWe found no association to wheat exposure, but for rye exposure an increased HR for rhinitis symptoms with exposure highest for the 3rd quartile, 2.9 (1.2-7.5) vs 1.6 (0.5-4.8) in the 4th quartile. Only 4 persons developed positive SPT to flour and two to α-amylase during the study.Conclusions: In baker apprentices followed for 36 months, a dose dependent HR for rhinitis symptoms with exposure to to dust and rye antigen was seen. ER -