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Discussion
Large-scale use of microbial enzymes in industry started in the 1960s in the detergent industry and led to a wide allergy problem due to proteases in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Substantial improvements in industrial hygiene led to a clear decrease in the occurrence of the allergies. However, allergies were reported later for other applications, for example, in the pharmaceutical industry in the 1980s and, especially, in the baking industries since the mid-1980s. Powdered enzymes have commonly been used to improve dough in bakeries since the 1980s. Our studies were initiated by the referral of cases of occupational asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis due to exposure to enzymes from the Finnish enzyme manufacturing industry in 1989–1990 (Tarvainen et al 1991). It was learned that enzymes were used widely in Finnish industries, and new applications, using novel protein engineering technologies, were being developed constantly. Powdered enzyme preparations were in use in most bakeries, and employees were exposed to enzyme dust also in animal feed factories and the detergent industry, as well as in enzyme production. Consequently, these areas were chosen as the target for investigation. The detergent factory was intented to function primarily as a reference workplace for our studies in that the exposure to enzymes and the prevalence of allergies were expected to be low on the basis of the general assumption of the safety of encapsulated enzymes and the paucity of allergy reports from this industry since the 1970s.
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50.0% |
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