Correspondence
 | Glutaraldehyde induced asthma in endoscopy nursing staff |
| Reply to letter |
Glutaraldehyde induced asthma in endoscopy nursing staff
We read with interest the paper on glutaraldehyde and
symptoms in endoscopy nursing staff.1 It is reported that
there was an absence of objective evidence of the physiological changes associated with asthma. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) records from 17 cases were analysed by the OASYS-2 computer program, and three of these
had OASYS-2 scores less than 2.5. These cases were thought not to show
asthma because PEF diurnal variability was less than 15%. We have
recently shown that increased diurnal variability is not found in most
workers with occupational asthma.2 Part of the explanation
may be that the acrophase (time of maximum PEF in a 24 hour period) in
normal and asthmatic people occurs at around 1600 with a trough about
12 hours later. Any deterioration in lung function due to exposure in
the workplace is superimposed on the normal circadian rhythm. Thus, if
a worker starting
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