Occupational rhinitis

Abstract

The sensory organs can be affected by environmental conditions. A well-known example of this is the damage done to the hearing apparatus by excessive noise exposure, whether at home or occupationally. Similarly, the nose is prone to damage, both at home and at work. Specific industrial chemicals, mixtures or dusts are known to cause work-related olfactory dysfunction. This is explained by the relatively direct exposure to the outside environment of the olfactory receptor neurons in the nose. Temporary or permanent work-related olfactory dysfunction can be induced by both acute and chronic occupational exposure to irritants. In the past, there was little attention from the medical community for smell disorders in workers. Occupational rhinitis (OR) differs from work-exacerbated rhinitis (WER) in that the latter occurs when occupational exposure worsens an already existent rhinitis of allergic or nonallergic type, but is not the cause of the initial rhinitis.