title: Woodworkers and the inflammatory effects of softwood/hardwood dust: evidence from nasal cytology.
abstract: Our primary aim was to use nasal cytology to compare a group of woodworkers with a group of unexposed subjects to see whether wood dust exposure correlates with specific patterns of inflammatory or infectious rhinitis. A secondary aim was to seek any differences in nasal symptoms or nasal cytology between workers exposed to softwood vs hardwood dust, thereby comparing the inflammatory harmful potential of the two woods. Among 117 woodworkers at factories in the Veneto region (Italy), 40 exposed to either softwood or hardwood dust were assessed by means of a questionnaire, nasal cytology, and personal wood dust sampling, and compared with 40 unexposed controls. Woodworkers reported significantly more nasal symptoms than controls (p = 0.0007). The woodworker group's nasal smears contained significantly more neutrophils (p < 0.00001) and lymphocytes (p = 0.02) than the control group's. The softwood workers had significantly lower levels of personal exposure to wood dust than the hardwood workers (p = 0.04); there were no significant differences in age, history of cigarette smoking, or period of exposure between these two sub-cohorts of woodworkers. A statistical trend indicated that softwood workers had more eosinophils (p = 0.05) and lymphocytes (p = 0.05) in their rhinocytograms. Nasal cytology revealed chronic inflammatory rhinitis in a significant proportion of woodworkers' enroled in this study. It also suggested a different harmful potential for softwood and hardwood dust. Nasal cytology could prove useful in screening woodworkers for chronic inflammatory rhinitis. Further investigations are needed to examine the role of different types of wood dust in nasal inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences DNS, Otolaryngology Section, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128, Padua, Italy. andrea.lovato.3@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lovato
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences DNS, Otolaryngology Section, Treviso Regional Hospital Branch, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staffieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences DNS, Otolaryngology Section, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ottaviano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine DIMED, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Rocco
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cappellesso
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine DIMED, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giacomelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiologic, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, Preventive Medicine and Risk Assessment Unit, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Bartolucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiologic, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, Preventive Medicine and Risk Assessment Unit, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Scapellato
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences DNS, Otolaryngology Section, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Gino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marioni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004391:Dust; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism; D009666:Nose / Q000166:cytology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000209:etiology; D014934:Wood / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D004391:Dust
keywords: Hardwood; Nasal cytology; Occupational rhinitis; Personal exposure; Softwood; Wood dust