From the discovery of virulent bladder excrescence in dye factories in Germany and Switzerland in the 19th century to the discovery of high rates of lung cancer in asbestos factories and Parkinson's disease in manganese steel factories in Britain and the United States, the continual appearance of these occupational diseases has been a serious shock to the medical community.
十九世紀，德國、瑞士首先在染料工廠發現膀胱惡性贅瘤；接著英、美在石綿工廠發現肺癌高發生率，生產錳鐵工廠出現巴金氏癥候群……。不斷出現的職業病給醫界帶來狂潮般的衝擊。