Gender and snow crab occupational asthma in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Fish and shellfish processing employs many thousands of people globally, with shellfish processing becoming more important in recent years. Shellfish processing is associated with multiple occupational health and safety (OHS) risks. Snow crab occupational asthma (OA) is work-related asthma associated with processing snow crab. We present a gender analysis of findings from a 3-year multifaceted study of snow crab OA in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The study was carried out in four snow crab processing communities between 2001 and 2004. An anonymous survey questionnaire on knowledge, beliefs, and concerns related to processing snow crab administered to 158 workers attending community meetings at the start of the research found that women were significantly more likely than men to associate certain health problems, especially chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and cough, with crab processing (P<0.001). Worker health assessments carried out with 215 processing workers (187 current/28 former; 120 female/95 male) found that female participants were more likely to be diagnosed as almost certain/highly probable snow crab OA and allergy (P=0.001) and to be sensitized to snow crab (P=0.01) than male participants. Work histories from the health assessments were used to classify processing jobs as male or female. Allergen sampling (211 allergen samples: 115 area, 96 personal breathing zone) indicated that the plant areas where these male jobs were concentrated were associated with lower levels of aerosolized crab allergens (the agents responsible for OA to snow crab) than areas associated with female jobs. This difference was statistically significant in the two plants with poor ventilation (p<0.001 and P=0.017 for these plants). A gender analysis of work history data showed that female health assessment participants were likely to have worked longer processing snow crab than males (5 years versus 3.5 years, respectively). Cross-referencing of work history results with allergen sampling data for male and female job areas showed a gender difference in median cumulative exposures (duration of exposure x level of exposures) for health assessment participants. Health assessment participants with estimated higher median cumulative exposures were more likely to receive a diagnosis of almost certain/highly probable OA and allergy. Semistructured interviews with 27 health assessment participants (24 female/ 3 male) with a diagnosis of almost certain/highly probable or possible snow crab OA indicated that these workers can experience substantial quality of life impacts while working and that they seek to reduce the economic impact of their illness by remaining at their jobs as long as possible. Indications of selection bias and other study limitations point to the need for more research exploring the relationship between the gender division of labor and knowledge, beliefs, and concerns about snow crab processing, as well as gender differences in prevalence, quality of life, and socioeconomic impact.