PT Journal AU Holmstrom, M Rosen, G Wilhelmsson, B TI Symptoms, airway physiology and histology of workers exposed to medium-density fiber board. SO Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health PD 12VL PY 1991 BP 409 EP 413 IS 6 DI 10.5271/sjweh.1685 WP https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=1685 SN 0355-3140 AB

Medium-density fiber (MDF) board was recently introduced in the furniture industry. In this pilot study health complaints, physiology, and histology of the upper airways were evaluated for two groups of workers, one handling MDF board for at least one-third of their work week (MDF group) and another handling traditional fiber board. Civil servants served as a reference group. The frequency of health complaints concerning the airways was higher, the sense of smell was poorer, and the frequency of nasal obstruction measured with rhinomanometry was higher for the MDF group, while mucociliary activity was lower in the group handling traditional board. In both groups forced vital capacity was low when compared with expected values. Histological specimens from the middle turbinate of the nose showed, in a few cases, nasal epithelial dysplasia in the traditional board group, but histological changes in terms of scoring did not differ significantly between the groups.

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