RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Occupational exposure to formaldehyde and histopathological changes in the nasal mucosa.
JF British Journal of Industrial Medicine
JO Br J Ind Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 761
OP 765
DO 10.1136/oem.45.11.761
VO 45
IS 11
A1 C Edling
A1 H Hellquist
A1 L Odkvist
YR 1988
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/45/11/761.abstract
AB To study the cytotoxic effect of formaldehyde on the human nasal mucosa 75 men with occupational exposure to formaldehyde or to formaldehyde and wood dust, were examined, looking particularly at early signs of irritative effects and histopathological changes in the nasal mucosa. All men underwent a medical examination and a nasal biopsy specimen was examined by a pathologist and graded from 0-8 according to the morphological changes. A high frequency of nasal symptoms, mostly a running nose and crusting, was related to exposure to formaldehyde. Only three men had a normal mucosa; the remainder had loss of cilia and goblet cell hyperplasia (11%) and squamous metaplasia (78%); in six cases (8%) there was a mild dysplasia. The histological grading showed a significantly higher score when compared with unexposed contents (2.9 v 1.8). There was no dose response relation, no malignancies, and no difference in the histological score between those exposed to formaldehyde or to formaldehyde and wood dust.