Kathleen Kreiss - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Kathleen Kreiss

Background: Bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible lung disease, was first associated with inh... more Background: Bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible lung disease, was first associated with inhalation of butter flavorings (diacetyl) in workers at a microwave popcorn company. Excess rates of lung-function abnormalities were related to cumulative diacetyl exposure. Because information on potential excess mortality would support development of permissible exposure limits for diacetyl, we investigated respiratory-associated mortality during 2000–2011 among current and former workers at this company who had exposure to flavorings and participated in cross-sectional surveys conducted between 2000–2003.

American Journal of Public Health, 2002

Indoor nonindustrial work environments were designated a priority research area through the natio... more Indoor nonindustrial work environments were designated a priority research area through the nationwide stakeholder process that created the National Occupational Research Agenda. A multidisciplinary research team used member consensus and quantitative estimates, with extensive external review, to develop a specific research agenda. The team outlined the following priority research topics: building-influenced communicable respiratory infections, building-related asthma/allergic diseases, and nonspecific building-related symptoms; indoor environmental science; and methods for increasing implementation of healthful building practices. Available data suggest that improving building environments may result in health benefits for more than 15 million of the 89 million US indoor workers, with estimated economic benefits of 5to5 to 5to75 billion annually. Research on these topics, requiring new collaborations and resources, offers enormous potential health and economic returns.

C96. NEW OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES, 2010

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Jan 12, 2015

D42. OUTCOMES FROM OCCUPATIONAL FIBERS AND DUSTS, 2009

C50. UPDATE ON OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES, 2010

Occupational Asthma, 2010

... Exposure to particulates and gases is always extremely dynamic and varies strongly over time ... more ... Exposure to particulates and gases is always extremely dynamic and varies strongly over time and space. Pronk et al. ... Closed circles refer to detectable levels, open circles refer to measurements below the detection limit, which are plotted as 2/3 of the detection limit (Pronk et al. ...

Occupational and environmental medicine, 2014

We examined microbial correlates of health outcomes in employees in a building with a sarcoidosis... more We examined microbial correlates of health outcomes in employees in a building with a sarcoidosis cluster and excess asthma. We offered employees a questionnaire and pulmonary function tests (PFT) and collected 120 floor dust samples by vacuuming workstation areas or the exterior rim of the floor. We analysed dust for culturable fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and cell wall components of fungi [(1→3)-β-D-glucan] and Gram-negative bacteria (endotoxin). Among 136 employees, 77% participated in the questionnaire, 64% in PFTs, and 49% in both. Of the 105 questionnaire participants, 50 (48%) reported at least one hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP)-like symptom (shortness of breath on exertion, flu-like achiness, or fever and chills) in the last 4 weeks; 69 (66%) reported at least one HP-like symptom in the last 12 months. PFT results were abnormal or borderline for 13 participants (6 obstruction; 2 restriction; 2 mixed pattern; and 3 borderline obstruction). ...

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

In 2000, 7% of workers at a copper-beryllium facility were beryllium sensitized. Risk was associa... more In 2000, 7% of workers at a copper-beryllium facility were beryllium sensitized. Risk was associated with work near a wire annealing/pickling process. The facility then implemented a preventive program including particle migration control, respiratory and dermal protection, and process enclosure. We assessed the program's efficacy in preventing beryllium sensitization. In 2000, the facility began testing new hires (program workers) with beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests (BeLPTs) at hire and at intervals during employment. We compared sensitization incidence rates (IRs) and prevalence rates for workers hired before the program (legacy workers) with rates for program workers, including program worker subgroups. We also examined trends in BeLPTs from a single laboratory. In all, five of 43 legacy workers (IR = 3.8/1,000 person-months) and three of 82 program workers (IR = 1.9/1,000 person-months) were beryllium sensitized, for an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.0 (95% confid...

American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2014

A26. WORK-RELATED LUNG DISEASE: CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL APPROACHES, 2012

C48. EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, 2010

Page 1. / Thematic Poster C48 EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL... more Page 1. / Thematic Poster C48 EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Session / Tuesday, May 18/8:15 AM-4:00 PM / Area E, Hall G (First Level), Morial Convention Center ...

C52. OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASE, 2011

Occupational and environmental medicine, 2014

To better understand respiratory symptoms and lung function in flavouring manufacturing workers. ... more To better understand respiratory symptoms and lung function in flavouring manufacturing workers. We offered a questionnaire and lung function testing to the current workforce of a flavouring manufacturing facility that had transitioned away from diacetyl and towards substitutes in recent years. We examined symptoms, spirometric parameters and diffusing capacity measurements by exposure variables, including facility tenure and time spent daily in production areas. We used linear and logistic regression to develop final models adjusted for age and smoking status. A total of 367 (93%) current workers participated. Shortness of breath was twice as common in those with tenure ≥ 7 years (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.6). Other chest symptoms were associated with time spent daily in production. Participants who spent ≥ 1 h daily in production areas had twice the odds of any spirometric abnormality (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.3) and three times the odds of low diffusing capacity (OR 2.8; 95% CI 0.9 ...

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2012

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a job exposure matrix (JEM) const... more Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a job exposure matrix (JEM) constructed for the period 1994-1999. Historical exposure estimates (HEE) for the JEM were constructed for all job and year combinations by applying temporal factors reflecting annual change in area air measurements (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) to the personal baseline exposure estimates (BEE) collected in 1999. The JEM was generated for an epidemiologic study to examine quantitative exposure-response relationships with sensitization and chronic beryllium disease.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2006

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1997

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Division,

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2013

Obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare disease with a small number of established occupational... more Obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare disease with a small number of established occupational aetiologies. We describe a case series of severe OB in workers making glass-reinforced plastics. Workplace exposures were the likely cause after the independent diagnosis of OB in two workers laying up the fibreglass hulls of yachts; the second worker took over the job of the first after he left following a lung transplant. Presentation of these two cases at international meetings led to others identifying similar workers. We identified six workers with good evidence of OB. All were involved in preparing fibreglass with styrene resins, five as boat builders laying up fibreglass hulls and one during cooling-tower fabrication. The disease came on rapidly without unusual acute exposures. Two patients had lung transplants, while another died while waiting for one. Histology confirmed OB in the four with biopsies/post-mortem examinations or explanted lungs. A rare, potentially fatal disease occurring in six workers laying up fibreglass with styrene resins from five different worksites suggests that work exposures were the cause of their OB. The precise agent responsible awaits identification.

New England Journal of Medicine, 2002

In May 2000, eight persons who had formerly worked at a microwave-popcorn production plant were r... more In May 2000, eight persons who had formerly worked at a microwave-popcorn production plant were reported to have severe bronchiolitis obliterans. No recognized cause was identified in the plant. Therefore, we medically evaluated current employees and assessed their occupational exposures. Questionnaire responses and spirometric findings in participating workers were compared with data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, after adjustment for age and smoking status. We evaluated the relation between exposures and health-related outcomes by analyzing the rates of symptoms and abnormalities according to current and cumulative exposure to diacetyl, the predominant ketone in artificial butter flavoring and in the air at the plant. Of the 135 current workers at the plant, 117 (87 percent) completed the questionnaire. These 117 workers had 2.6 times the expected rates of chronic cough and shortness of breath, according to comparisons with the national data, and twice the expected rates of physician-diagnosed asthma and chronic bronchitis. Overall, the workers had 3.3 times the expected rate of airway obstruction; those who had never smoked had 10.8 times the expected rate. Workers directly involved in the production of microwave popcorn had higher rates of shortness of breath on exertion and skin problems that had developed since they started work than workers in other parts of the plant. There was a strong relation between the quartile of estimated cumulative exposure to diacetyl and the frequency and extent of airway obstruction. The excess rates of lung disease and lung-function abnormalities and the relation between exposure and outcomes in this working population indicate that they probably had occupational bronchiolitis obliterans caused by the inhalation of volatile butter-flavoring ingredients.

Background: Bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible lung disease, was first associated with inh... more Background: Bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible lung disease, was first associated with inhalation of butter flavorings (diacetyl) in workers at a microwave popcorn company. Excess rates of lung-function abnormalities were related to cumulative diacetyl exposure. Because information on potential excess mortality would support development of permissible exposure limits for diacetyl, we investigated respiratory-associated mortality during 2000–2011 among current and former workers at this company who had exposure to flavorings and participated in cross-sectional surveys conducted between 2000–2003.

American Journal of Public Health, 2002

Indoor nonindustrial work environments were designated a priority research area through the natio... more Indoor nonindustrial work environments were designated a priority research area through the nationwide stakeholder process that created the National Occupational Research Agenda. A multidisciplinary research team used member consensus and quantitative estimates, with extensive external review, to develop a specific research agenda. The team outlined the following priority research topics: building-influenced communicable respiratory infections, building-related asthma/allergic diseases, and nonspecific building-related symptoms; indoor environmental science; and methods for increasing implementation of healthful building practices. Available data suggest that improving building environments may result in health benefits for more than 15 million of the 89 million US indoor workers, with estimated economic benefits of 5to5 to 5to75 billion annually. Research on these topics, requiring new collaborations and resources, offers enormous potential health and economic returns.

C96. NEW OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES, 2010

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Jan 12, 2015

D42. OUTCOMES FROM OCCUPATIONAL FIBERS AND DUSTS, 2009

C50. UPDATE ON OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASES, 2010

Occupational Asthma, 2010

... Exposure to particulates and gases is always extremely dynamic and varies strongly over time ... more ... Exposure to particulates and gases is always extremely dynamic and varies strongly over time and space. Pronk et al. ... Closed circles refer to detectable levels, open circles refer to measurements below the detection limit, which are plotted as 2/3 of the detection limit (Pronk et al. ...

Occupational and environmental medicine, 2014

We examined microbial correlates of health outcomes in employees in a building with a sarcoidosis... more We examined microbial correlates of health outcomes in employees in a building with a sarcoidosis cluster and excess asthma. We offered employees a questionnaire and pulmonary function tests (PFT) and collected 120 floor dust samples by vacuuming workstation areas or the exterior rim of the floor. We analysed dust for culturable fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and cell wall components of fungi [(1→3)-β-D-glucan] and Gram-negative bacteria (endotoxin). Among 136 employees, 77% participated in the questionnaire, 64% in PFTs, and 49% in both. Of the 105 questionnaire participants, 50 (48%) reported at least one hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP)-like symptom (shortness of breath on exertion, flu-like achiness, or fever and chills) in the last 4 weeks; 69 (66%) reported at least one HP-like symptom in the last 12 months. PFT results were abnormal or borderline for 13 participants (6 obstruction; 2 restriction; 2 mixed pattern; and 3 borderline obstruction). ...

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

In 2000, 7% of workers at a copper-beryllium facility were beryllium sensitized. Risk was associa... more In 2000, 7% of workers at a copper-beryllium facility were beryllium sensitized. Risk was associated with work near a wire annealing/pickling process. The facility then implemented a preventive program including particle migration control, respiratory and dermal protection, and process enclosure. We assessed the program's efficacy in preventing beryllium sensitization. In 2000, the facility began testing new hires (program workers) with beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests (BeLPTs) at hire and at intervals during employment. We compared sensitization incidence rates (IRs) and prevalence rates for workers hired before the program (legacy workers) with rates for program workers, including program worker subgroups. We also examined trends in BeLPTs from a single laboratory. In all, five of 43 legacy workers (IR = 3.8/1,000 person-months) and three of 82 program workers (IR = 1.9/1,000 person-months) were beryllium sensitized, for an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.0 (95% confid...

American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2014

A26. WORK-RELATED LUNG DISEASE: CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL APPROACHES, 2012

C48. EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, 2010

Page 1. / Thematic Poster C48 EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL... more Page 1. / Thematic Poster C48 EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Session / Tuesday, May 18/8:15 AM-4:00 PM / Area E, Hall G (First Level), Morial Convention Center ...

C52. OCCUPATIONAL LUNG DISEASE, 2011

Occupational and environmental medicine, 2014

To better understand respiratory symptoms and lung function in flavouring manufacturing workers. ... more To better understand respiratory symptoms and lung function in flavouring manufacturing workers. We offered a questionnaire and lung function testing to the current workforce of a flavouring manufacturing facility that had transitioned away from diacetyl and towards substitutes in recent years. We examined symptoms, spirometric parameters and diffusing capacity measurements by exposure variables, including facility tenure and time spent daily in production areas. We used linear and logistic regression to develop final models adjusted for age and smoking status. A total of 367 (93%) current workers participated. Shortness of breath was twice as common in those with tenure ≥ 7 years (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.6). Other chest symptoms were associated with time spent daily in production. Participants who spent ≥ 1 h daily in production areas had twice the odds of any spirometric abnormality (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.3) and three times the odds of low diffusing capacity (OR 2.8; 95% CI 0.9 ...

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2012

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a job exposure matrix (JEM) const... more Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of a job exposure matrix (JEM) constructed for the period 1994-1999. Historical exposure estimates (HEE) for the JEM were constructed for all job and year combinations by applying temporal factors reflecting annual change in area air measurements (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) to the personal baseline exposure estimates (BEE) collected in 1999. The JEM was generated for an epidemiologic study to examine quantitative exposure-response relationships with sensitization and chronic beryllium disease.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2006

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1997

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Division,

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2013

Obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare disease with a small number of established occupational... more Obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare disease with a small number of established occupational aetiologies. We describe a case series of severe OB in workers making glass-reinforced plastics. Workplace exposures were the likely cause after the independent diagnosis of OB in two workers laying up the fibreglass hulls of yachts; the second worker took over the job of the first after he left following a lung transplant. Presentation of these two cases at international meetings led to others identifying similar workers. We identified six workers with good evidence of OB. All were involved in preparing fibreglass with styrene resins, five as boat builders laying up fibreglass hulls and one during cooling-tower fabrication. The disease came on rapidly without unusual acute exposures. Two patients had lung transplants, while another died while waiting for one. Histology confirmed OB in the four with biopsies/post-mortem examinations or explanted lungs. A rare, potentially fatal disease occurring in six workers laying up fibreglass with styrene resins from five different worksites suggests that work exposures were the cause of their OB. The precise agent responsible awaits identification.

New England Journal of Medicine, 2002

In May 2000, eight persons who had formerly worked at a microwave-popcorn production plant were r... more In May 2000, eight persons who had formerly worked at a microwave-popcorn production plant were reported to have severe bronchiolitis obliterans. No recognized cause was identified in the plant. Therefore, we medically evaluated current employees and assessed their occupational exposures. Questionnaire responses and spirometric findings in participating workers were compared with data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, after adjustment for age and smoking status. We evaluated the relation between exposures and health-related outcomes by analyzing the rates of symptoms and abnormalities according to current and cumulative exposure to diacetyl, the predominant ketone in artificial butter flavoring and in the air at the plant. Of the 135 current workers at the plant, 117 (87 percent) completed the questionnaire. These 117 workers had 2.6 times the expected rates of chronic cough and shortness of breath, according to comparisons with the national data, and twice the expected rates of physician-diagnosed asthma and chronic bronchitis. Overall, the workers had 3.3 times the expected rate of airway obstruction; those who had never smoked had 10.8 times the expected rate. Workers directly involved in the production of microwave popcorn had higher rates of shortness of breath on exertion and skin problems that had developed since they started work than workers in other parts of the plant. There was a strong relation between the quartile of estimated cumulative exposure to diacetyl and the frequency and extent of airway obstruction. The excess rates of lung disease and lung-function abnormalities and the relation between exposure and outcomes in this working population indicate that they probably had occupational bronchiolitis obliterans caused by the inhalation of volatile butter-flavoring ingredients.