Description of 19 cases of asthma presumed to be induced by TDI
| Variables of subjects and exposure | Onset of symptoms | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1980 | On or after 1980 | ||
| Sex: | |||
| Men | 11 | 6 | |
| Women | 0 | 2 | |
| Job category: | |||
| Field operator | 6 | 5 | |
| Maintenance or technician | 3 | 2 | |
| TDI loading | 2 | 0 | |
| Supervisor | 0 | 1 | |
| Cigarette smoking status | |||
| Non-smoker | 9 | 5 | |
| Current (<1 pack/day) | 1 | 0 | |
| Current (⩾1 pack/day) | 0 | 3 | |
| Unknown | 1 | 0 | |
| Basis for case ascertainment: | |||
| History of symptoms | 10 | 3 | |
| History of symptoms+pulmonologist evaluation | 1 | 2 | |
| History of symptoms+shift in PFTs before to after | 0 | 3 | |
| Earlier exposure to TDI or phosgene: | |||
| None | 8 | 2 | |
| TDI | 1 | 3 | |
| Phosgene | 0 | 2 | |
| Phosgene and TDI | 2 | 1 | |
| Duration of earlier TDI exposure (months): | |||
| 2–11 | 5 | 2 | |
| 12–35 | 4 | 3 | |
| 36–59 | 1 | 2 | |
| ⩾60 | 1 | 1 | |
| Duration of exposure after onset of symptoms (y): | |||
| <0.5 | 8 | 4 | |
| 0.5–0.9 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1.0–1.9 | 1 | 1 | |
| ⩾2.0 | 1 | 0 | |