Acceptance and effects of nasal lavage in volunteer woodworkers

Abstract

Wood dust is an irritant and is carcinogenic to the nasal mucosa. It inhibits its own clearance from the nose. It therefore makes sense to lavage retained wood dust from the nose following exposure. To our knowledge this is the second study conducted to determine whether the procedure of nasal lavage reduces nasal symptoms in woodworkers. Forty-six woodworkers from 150 approached volunteered to trial nasal lavage using gravity fed, home-made unbuffered isotonic saline for 2 months in a crossover trial and then be followed-up a year later. The group reported significantly decreased nasal symptoms and over half continued to use nasal lavage voluntariiy after 1 year. Results support the findings of the previous study that nasal lavage improves nasal symptoms and supplements these findings with data indicating patterns of voluntary usage following the study's conclusion. It is concluded that nasal lavage is an acceptable, effective and inexpensive option with minimal side effects for woodworkers who experience nasal symptoms and who wish to try the procedure.