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Occupational dermatitis on the rise in Montreal's aircraft industry

Ottawa, ON—Cases of occupational dermatitis in the Montreal aircraft industry increased to 27 in 2002, from about five per year during the 1990s. As of June 2003 there had already been 30 cases.

“The high prevalence of cases is because of increased
production,” Denis Sasseville, MD, said at the annual meeting of the Canadian Dermatology Association. Production at Bombardier Aerospace has increased from four to 16 planes per month.

Three-quarters of the people with occupational dermatitis present in the first three years of employment. Most are young. “Older workers seem to be either immune to dermatitis or they have a much better working technique,” said Dr. Sasseville, chair of dermatology, McGill University, Montreal. He noted that although Bombardier urges employees to wear long sleeves and latex gloves, many do not.

The aircraft industry relies heavily on manual production. Machinists, composite material technicians, assemblers, sealers, painters, and electricians are exposed to metals, primer paints, epoxy and phenolic sealants and coatings, cutting oils, solvents and degreasers, jet fuel, and hydraulic line fluids.

Half of the Bombardier cases are assemblers and approximately one-third are composite material technicians.

Only about 10 per cent of the workers at Bombardier are composite material technicians. They build parts from composite resins (fibreglass rather than metal). “Thirty-five per cent of the cases come from the department that is 10 per cent of the company . . . there is a problem there,” Dr. Sasseville said.

Lesions usually affect fingertips, the dorsum of the hand, and the inner forearms. The face and eyelids were affected in workers who were sensitive to airborne epoxies (often composite material technicians who preheat materials with blowers).

“In this particular workforce, allergy is much more common than irritation,” he said, noting that 60 per cent were diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis and 23 per cent were diagnosed with irritant contact dermatitis. Allergens included:
• Epoxy resin derivatives (50 per cent),
• DGEBA resin,
• Phenol-formaldehyde resins,
• Potassium dichromate,
• Nickel,
• Aliphatic amines, and
• Formaldehyde releasers.

Allergies to other resins and to potassium dichromate are not rare and polysensitization is common. Workers should be tested to their own company’s products, not commercially available substitutes, he said. “In fact, 40 per cent of all cases of epoxy allergy would have been missed if they had not been tested to their own products.”