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Dust entry

Flour dust

Airborne dust from flour handling in baking and food production, including traditional wheat flour dust and dust from flour additives.

Airborne form

dust

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

occupational asthmabreathlessnesschest tightnesswheezingbronchitisconjunctivitisrhinitisoccupational dermatitis

Evidence

The UK HSE identifies flour dust as a hazardous substance and asthmagen; it reports asthma with breathlessness, chest tightness, wheezing and bronchitis, as well as eye, nose, and skin irritation, and states that traditional wheat flour dust is a major cause of baker's asthma.

Source: html ↗ · saved source
Risks from flour dust; Baker’s asthma · 1
Flour dust is a hazardous substance ... It can cause: asthma if a worker becomes sensitised, resulting in breathlessness, tightness in the chest, wheezing and bronchitis; irritation to the eyes (conjunctivitis); irritation to the nose (rhinitis); occupational dermatitis ... Breathing in traditional wheat flour dust at work is one of the main causes of baker’s asthma.

HSE's 2026 bakery inspection notice says flour dust is one of the most common causes of occupational asthma in Great Britain, that bread-improver enzymes can cause respiratory sensitisation, and that sensitised workers may react to small amounts; it emphasizes elimination, substitution, engineering controls, and health surveillance.

Source: html ↗ · saved source
HSE inspections tackling exposure to flour dust in bakeries · 3-5
Exposure to certain dusty ingredients can lead to occupational asthma ... flour dust being one of the most common causes of occupational asthma in Great Britain. Exposure to other dusty ingredients, such as bread improver enzymes, can also cause respiratory sensitisation. Dust can cause the airways to become hypersensitive. Once a worker becomes sensitised, even small amounts of dust can trigger asthma symptoms, and in many cases the condition is irreversible.

A NIOSH health-hazard evaluation found employees handling unbaked dough or dry ingredients were overexposed to flour dust, and assessed sensitization to flour dust, wheat, and alpha-amylase in relation to work-related symptoms.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 1 · Summary / Conclusions · 1
We measured airborne flour dust, α-amylase, and wheat ... Employees handling unbaked dough or dry ingredients were overexposed to flour dust.

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