Nasocytologic Examination of Wood Industry Workers

Abstract

To establish a methodology for field examination for early diagnosis of ethmoidal cancer in workers in the furniture industry, two methods were compared, namely nasal rinsing and direct sample-taking from the middle meatus. The latter method proved superior, resulting in a high number of cylinder cells. This method was tried out in a field survey of 715 furniture workers. No tumours or precancerous changes were revealed. The investigation continues, by exposing the Syrian golden hamster to wood-dust and using, amongst other methods, quantitative nuclear morphometry for evaluation.