Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 May;25(3):100305.
doi: 10.1016/j.clinme.2025.100305. Epub 2025 Apr 2.

Occupational lung disease: What the general physician needs to know

Patrick Howlett  1 , Joanna Szram  2 , Johanna Feary  2
Affiliations
Review

Occupational lung disease: What the general physician needs to know

Patrick Howlett et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2025 May.

Abstract

Occupational exposures are a common and preventable cause of lung disease. About one in six cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma worldwide are related to work. Early recognition of occupational lung disease improves outcomes. Doctors should ask about work history in patients with respiratory symptoms. This educational review article briefly outlines key clinical features, relevant to the general physician, of common occupational lung diseases seen in the UK. These conditions include work-related asthma, pneumoconioses, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and COPD. Referral to a specialist is recommended when an occupational cause is suspected. Most occupational lung diseases are preventable with adequate workplace safety measures and early medical attention.

Keywords: Lung; Occupation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
(A) Axial CT section (soft-tissue windows) showing complicated silicosis with progressive massive fibrosis. There are bilateral perihilar conglomerate masses with punctate calcification. Mediastinal calcified lymph nodes are also demonstrated. (B) Lung window settings at the same level show coexisting nodularity and emphysema.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Blanc P.D., Annesi-Maesano I., Balmes J.R., et al. The occupational burden of nonmalignant Respiratory diseases. An official American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society statement. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019;199(11):1312–1334. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Statistics - work-related ill health and occupational disease [Internet]. [cited 3 Mar 2025]. Available from: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/.
    1. Barber C.M., Cullinan P., Feary J., Fishwick D., Hoyle J., Mainman H., et al. British thoracic society clinical statement on occupational asthma. Thorax. 2022;77(5):433–442. - PubMed
    1. Barradas A., Iskandar I., Carder M., et al. Trends in occupational respiratory conditions with short latency in the UK. Occup Med [Internet] 2024;74(6):430–437. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqae057. [cited 3 Mar 2025]Available from: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lemiere C., Lavoie G., Doyen V., Vandenplas O. Irritant-induced asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022;10(11):2799–2806. https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(22)00694-8/fulltext [cited 20 Mar 2025]Available from: - PubMed

MeSH terms