Occupational allergy in horticulture

The Commodity Board of Horticulture in the Netherlands provided important information on an increasing number of allergic complaints among workers in bell pepper and in Chrysanthemum greenhouses. Both cultivations have become important branches of horticulture under glass in the Netherlands (Figure 3). The presence of work-related allergic symptoms among bell pepper horticulturists has been described in two case reports by Gerth van Wijk and by van Toorenenbergen.8 ·" In 1993 and 1996 two inventory questionnaire surveys were performed among bell pepper gardeners and their employees, showing respectively that 15% and 22% of the workforce attributed their complaints to the work environment in the greenhouses.47 As a possible explanation for these results the high pollen concentrations in the greenhouses were mentioned. The relation, however, between exposure to pollen and the reported symptoms was not further analysed and until now no studies have been published on work-related symptoms among bell pepper horticulturists

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