Pulmonary haemorrhage and haemolytic anaemia due to trimellitic anhydride.

Two young men who had been exposed at work to epoxy resin powder containing trimellitic anhydride (TMA) presented with haemolytic anaemia and repeated haemoptyses. They did not return to work at the factory and the symptoms and the anaemia resolved spontaneously. Seven similar cases have lately been presented at meetings, so it seems that TMA, already known to cause respiratory syndromes such as asthma, can also lead to several extrapulmonary toxic effects, including haemoptyses and haemolytic anaemia. Studies on these patients' sera with TMA haptenised protein and cells pointed to an immunological mechanism.