Table 4 Prevalence of probable exposure to each asthmagen group the AWES-Asthma sample and approximate prevalence of exposure in the female Australian working population. CI confidence interval

Any asthmagen

984

40.4

1 656 300

37

34 to 40

Latex

601

24.7

980 700

22

20 to 25

Industrial cleaning and sterilising agents

491

20.2

823 500

19

16 to 21

Bioaerosols

439

18.0

728 900

16

14 to 19

Arthropods or mites

398

16.3

676 900

15

13 to 18

Biological Enzymes

279

11.5

467 300

11

9 to 12

Foods

247

10.1

445 900

10

8 to 12

Ammonia

252

10.3

373 500

8

7 to 10

Flour

212

8.7

358 900

8

7 to 10

Aldehydes

201

8.3

307 800

7

6 to 8

Derived from animals

218

9.0

282 900

6

5 to 8

Metals

153

6.3

220 700

5

4 to 6

Flowers

85

3.5

147 500

3

2 to 5

Acrylates

65

2.7

125 300

3

2 to 4

Derived from fish/shellfish

64

2.6

105 300

2

2 to 3

Pesticides

51

2.1

75 500

2

1 to 3

Derived from Plants-Other

55

2.3

62 600

1

1 to 2

Acids

38

1.6

53 700

1

1 to 2

Amines

21

0.9

51 100

1

1 to 2

Drugs

7

0.3

24 400

<1

Epoxy

19

0.8

22 700

<1

Isocyanates

11

0.5

11 500

<1

Other Reactive Chemicals

5

0.2

7 600

<1

Reactive dyes

4

0.2

36

<1

Ethylene Oxide

4

0.2

36

<1

Anhydrides

2

0.1

13

<1

Soldering

1

0.0

4

<1

Wood Dusts

3

0.1

1

<1