Symptoms, airway physiology and histology of workers exposed to medium-density fiber board.
研究比较了接触中密度纤维板与传统纤维板的工人及公务员的上呼吸道症状、生理和组织学差异，发现MDF组呼吸道症状更多、嗅觉更差、鼻塞更频繁。
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.