An outbreak of asthma in a modern detergent factory

The striking decrease in the occurrence of protease-induced occupational as thma in the detergent industry has been attributed to enzyme encapsulation. We report an outbreak of asthma, at least equal in sire to those reported in the 1960s, in a modern European factory which has exclusively used encap sulated enzymes. A survey revealed that enzyme sensitisation and work-relat ed respiratory symptoms were positively correlated with airborne enzyme exp osure. We suggest that encapsulation alone is insufficient to prevent enzym e-induced allergy and asthma.