More than 20 million U.S. workers are exposed to substances that can cause airway disease, according to NIOSH. Nearly 30 percent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and adult asthma cases may be attributable to occupational exposure. Nearly nine million workers are occupationally-exposed to known sensitizers and irritants associated with asthma, according to NIOSH.

Lung function is a predictor of mortality in the general population, as well as in patients with lung disease, even in those who have never smoked. Maintaining lung function is an important goal in the prevention of chronic respiratory diseases and a major public health objective; yet, smoking cessation remains the main target to reduce the burden of these diseases.

Adults with asthma are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease, yet according to a new CDC study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, just 54 percent of adults with work-related asthma—asthma triggered by an exposure at work—have been vaccinated against the infection.

Five years after starting his first job with a landscaping crew in the suburbs of Seattle, Fredi Dubon decided he had enough and called it quits. The work days were long, sometimes 12 hours, but a bigger problem was having to inhale exhaust from his gas-powered leaf blower.

A Philadelphia refinery’s plans to expand operations is drawing opposition from local residents, clergy members and environmental activists who say it will emit toxic emissions and endanger the health of people living nearby.

In 1981, a worker at the Maxwell House coffee factory in Houston died from what was reported at the time to be "bronchial asthma." She was 46, a mother of three. In 1982, another worker at the plant died — from the same thing.

Each year, nearly 900,000 Americans die prematurely from the five leading causes of death – yet 20 percent to 40 percent of the deaths from each cause could be prevented, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At least 1.7 million U.S. workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in industries and occupations including construction, sandblasting, and mining, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.