Background:
Indoor air pollution can cause and exacerbate asthma. We report a previously undescribed case of occupational asthma related to indoor air pollution in a worker at an indoor air gun shooting range and highlight the potential risk of developing occupational asthma in this environment.
Case presentation:
A 31-year-old man presented with dyspnea, cough, and sputum and was diagnosed with asthma complicated by pneumonia. Objective evidence of asthma was obtained by performing a methacholine bronchial provocation test. It was suspected that the patient had occupational asthma, which began one month after changing jobs to work within the indoor air gun shooting range. The highest peak expiratory flow (PEF) diurnal variability on working days was 15%, but the highest variation was 24%, with 4 days out of 4 weeks having a variation of over 20% related to workplace exposure. Conversely, the diurnal variability on the rest days was 7%, and no day showed a variation exceeding 20%. The difference in the average PEF between working and rest days was 52 L/min. PEF deterioration during working days and improvement on rest days were noted.
Conclusions:
The results obtained from the in-depth analysis of the PEF were adequate to diagnose the patient with occupational asthma. Exposure to indoor air pollution and lead and the patient's atopy and allergic rhinitis may have contributed to the development of occupational asthma.