Reference

Niezborala M, Garnier R, Allergy to complex platinum salts: A historical prospective cohort study, Occup Environ Med, 1996;53:525-257,

BOHRF Original Authors' Main Conclusions

The original authors' main conclusions are taken from Abstract, Results and Discussion. They are decided upon by the authors of the BOHRF occupational asthma guidelines and form part of the guidelines.

A cohort study was conducted on 77 workers who were not atopic on skin prick tests to three common allergens at the time of recruitment. 18 workers developed a positive result on skin tests and 23 developed symptoms, including all 18 subjects with positive skin tests (incidence of positive skin tests and symptoms was highest during the first 2 years of work). Screening atopic subjects with common allergens when they joined the company did not seem to result in a reduction of the incidence of allergy to complex platinum salts. Smoking was a significant predictive factor for both positive skin tests and symptoms (5.53 times that of non-smokers). Findings confirm that smoking is and that atopy may not be a high risk factor for the development of allergy to complex platinum salts. The high incidence of sensitisation and the available data on the clinical course of sensitised workers show that sensitised workers must be promptly and completely removed from exposure.

BOHRF Associated Evidence Statements

The BOHRF occupational asthma guidelines state that this reference is associated with the following evidence statements

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2+

Cigarette smoking can increase the risk of developing occupational asthma with some sensitising agents.

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2+

Sensitisation and occupational asthma are most likely to develop in the first years of exposure for workers exposed to enzymes, complex platinum salts, isocyanates and laboratory animal allergens.

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3

The positive predictive values of screening criteria are too poorly discriminating for screening out potentially susceptible individuals, particularly in the case of atopy where the trait is highly prevalent.