Gluten In The Workplace

[sweetbeez]

i have been recently diagnosed with celiac disease i cant seem to get any help with this question ... even from my own doctor... i work in a pizza shop... i am the dough maker... my arms were in it up to the elbow and flour flying allll around like snow... after my diagnosis i trained someone else to do the dough and now i only handle the "cooking part" of the dough im not touching the flour but im just not sure if this environment is safe??? i dont ever feel sick from it... in fact i only found out i had celiac when i had an emergency appendectomy and was found to be severely anemic (actually i was kinda run down and cranky) they ran tests and TA-DA!!!! life changing experience!!!! any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[ravenwoodglass]

Welcome to the board.

To be safest you really need to get out of an environment where flour dust is going to be in the air. You are going to be breathing it in and gluten will be getting into your system that way. IF the mixing of the dough takes place in a different room from where the baking is done you might be able to get away with it. You could try wearing a mask and you also should change your clothes as soon as you get home and toss them right into the wash if they have flour on them. From your post it sounds like you showed up positive in blood tests so if you really feel you have to keep this occupation you could try having your blood tested every few months to see if your levels are going down. All in all though my advice would be to find a different job. Hopefully others will also give some input on this for you.