TY - JOUR T1 - Response to: Correspondence on “Association between occupational exposure to irritant agents and a distinct asthma endotype in adults” by Andrianjafimasy et al JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO - Occup Environ Med SP - 359 LP - 360 DO - 10.1136/oemed-2021-108117 VL - 79 IS - 5 AU - Miora Valérie Andrianjafimasy AU - Mickaël Febrissy AU - Farid Zerimech AU - Brigitte Dananché AU - Hans Kromhout AU - Régis Matran AU - Mohamed Nadif AU - Dominique Oberson-Geneste AU - Catherine Quinot AU - Vivi Schlünssen AU - Valérie Siroux AU - Jan-Paul Zock AU - Nicole Le Moual AU - Rachel Nadif AU - Orianne Dumas Y1 - 2022/05/01 UR - http://oem.bmj.com/content/79/5/359.abstract N2 - We read with interest the letter by Burge et al related to our publication on occupational exposure to irritants and asthma endotypes.1 Burge et al comment on the definition of irritants, an issue regularly discussed in the field of work-related asthma.2 A concern expressed by Burge et al is that the Occupational Asthma Job-Exposure Matrix (OAsJEM), used to evaluate exposure to irritant agents in our study, includes among the list of irritants some agents well-known as low molecular weight sensitisers, namely isocyanates, acrylates, epoxy resins and amines. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify some aspects of the OAsJEM. The OAsJEM, a revised version of the former asthma-specific JEM, evaluates exposure to 30 specific agents, classified in several large groups such as ‘high molecular weight’, ‘low molecular weight’ or ‘irritant’, based on a consensus from international experts, as described previously.3 Because for many agents, the exact mechanism(s) involved in occupational asthma still needs to be elucidated, the experts choose a sensitive classification approach to assign agents to large groups, considering sensitising or irritant potential according to most recent … ER -