Objective
Due to new legal requirements in Germany, the employer must request preventive medical check-ups for activities involving
exposure to dust from experimental animals in the rooms in which the animals are kept. The objective is to report our first
experiences with these medical check-ups in the context of academic research.
Methods
The check-ups were carried out since November 2005 and comprised a questionnaire and a medical examination, including a pulmonary
function test with whole-body plethysmography. Respiratory, nasal and ocular symptoms related to occupational exposure to
animals were documented. Participation in skin prick tests (ubiquitous inhalation allergens and laboratory animal allergens),
a bronchial provocation test with methacholine, and serological examinations for total IgE and specific IgE antibodies was
voluntary.
Results
Data on 132 persons are presented. One hundred and six of these had already been exposed for at least 1 year. Main complaints
at the workplace were sneezing and runny nose. Ocular symptoms and bronchial asthma were reported infrequently. The development
of at least one of these symptoms occurred in 34% of employees with an exposure of at least 1 year. If the weekly exposure
duration was at least 5 h, the proportion of employees with complaints rose to 44.9%. In employees occupationally exposed
to mice and rats, work-related complaints occurred in 33.7 and 37.8%, respectively, and sensitisation rates were 12.7 and
16.3%, respectively. Employees with and without complaints differed in history of allergic symptoms, and workplace safety
measures.
Conclusions
In employees with occupational contact with laboratory animal dust, the frequency of complaints was high. The results confirm
the necessity of regular medical check-ups for employees with contact with laboratory animal dust. Nevertheless, the medical
check-ups must be part of a prevention strategy including education, engineering controls, administrative controls, use of
personal protective equipment and vocational integration.
Keywords Occupational exposure - Laboratory animals - Sensitisation - Preventive medical check-ups - University research