Environmental lung diseases are caused by harmful gases, mists, particles or vapors that are inhaled. This typically happens in the workplace but can also happen in the home. The term pneumoconiosis is often used if the lung disease is due to inhaled particles rather than gases or vapors. Where within the airways or lungs an inhaled substance ends up and what type of lung disease develops depend on the size and kind of particles inhaled. Large particles may get trapped in the nose or large airways, but very small ones may reach the lungs. There, some particles dissolve and may be absorbed into the bloodstream. Most solid particles that do not dissolve are removed by the body's defenses. However, the lungs are not able to remove other toxic minerals like asbestos leading to a number of diseases.
The body has several mechanisms to remove rid of inhaled particles. In the airways, an accumulation of secretions (mucus) coats particles so that they can be coughed up more easily. Additionally, tiny cells lining the airways (cilia) are able to sweep inhaled particles upward and eventually out of the lungs. In the small air sacs of the lungs (alveoli), special scavenger cells (macrophages) engulf most particles and render them harmless. Asbestos fibers and carbon nanotubes however are too long and skinny for macrophages to surround and therefore cannot be made harmless.
Many different kinds of particles can harm the lungs. Some are organic, meaning that they are made of materials that contain carbon and are part of living organisms (such as grain dusts, cotton dust, or animal dander). Some are inorganic, meaning that they usually come from nonliving sources, such as metals or minerals (for example, asbestos).
Different types of particles produce different reactions in the body. Some particles—animal dander, for example—can cause allergic reactions, such as hay fever–like symptoms or a type of asthma. Other particles cause harm not by triggering allergic reactions but by being toxic to the cells of the airways and air sacs in the lung. Some particles, such as quartz dust and asbestos, may cause chronic irritation that can lead to scarring of lung tissue (pulmonary fibrosis). Certain toxic minerals like as asbestos can cause lung cancer or cancer of the lining of the chest and lung (mesothelioma).
Who Is at Risk of Environmental Lung Diseases?
Asbestosis
Construction workers who install or remove materials (including insulation) that contain asbestos
Shipyard workers
Workers who mine, mill, or manufacture asbestos
Benign pneumoconiosis
Barium workers
Iron miners
Tin workers
Welders
Beryllium disease
Aerospace workers
Metallurgical (castings) workers
Bronchiolitis obliterans
Flavorings workers (popcorn workers' lung)
Byssinosis
Cotton, hemp, jute, and flax workers
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis
Coal workers
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
Office workers (because of air-conditioning systems contaminated by certain fungi and bacteria)
Swimming pool and spa workers (because of contaminated sprays)
Farmers, mushroom workers, bird keepers, people exposed to isocyanates (urethanes)
Mesothelioma
Construction workers who install or remove materials (including insulation) that contain asbestos
Shipyard workers
Workers who mine, mill, or manufacture asbestos
Occupational asthma
People who work with grains, western red cedar wood, castor beans, isocyanates (urethanes), dyes, antibiotics, epoxy resins, tea, and enzymes used in manufacturing detergent, malt, leather goods, latex, jewelry, abrasives and paints used in automobile body repairs, animals, shellfish, irritating gases, vapors, and mists
Silicosis
Certain coal miners (for example, roof bolters who work at the face of a mining operation)
Foundry workers
Lead, copper, silver, and gold miners
Potters
Sandblasters
Sandstone or granite cutters
Tombstone makers
Tunnel workers
Workers who make abrasive soaps
Silo filler's disease
Farmers