Lansing, MI — Workers who pick, grind and package cannabis are developing job-related asthma, researchers are warning.
Using data from California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington, a team of 10 researchers identified two deaths caused by work-related asthma in the industry. Overall, they found 30 cases of workplace asthma but say the number is likely higher because of underreporting.
Work-related asthma occurs when someone develops a new allergy to a workplace substance or when preexisting asthma is triggered by something in the workplace, a Michigan State University press release states.
Study co-author Kenneth Rosenman, chief of MSU’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, pointed out that cannabis plant dust and disinfectants are among the “number of allergens and substances capable of causing allergic reactions.”
Thirteen of the cases were “new onset” cases, “meaning the employees didn’t have asthma before they began working in the cannabis industry.”
Rosenman said medical surveillance of workers and annual screenings for asthma are important steps that the cannabis industry can take.
“This is clearly a preventable disease,” he said. “Industry needs to be responsible, and workers need to speak out and talk to their health care providers.”
The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
