Were recruited to participate in the study individuals from four different workplaces: Hospital; University; Housekeeper and Control (office workers). The research was performed in Cacoal city, Rondonia, Brazil. Smokers (active), pregnant, lactating, and individuals at continuing therapy for treating disorders of the airways were excluded.
Clinical profile and respiratory symptoms employees evaluation were performed using the European Community Respiratory Health Survey for occupational diseases evaluation (ECRHS), and the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) - Asthma module.
Nasal swab was collected for evaluation of upper airways inflammation, according to Ronchetti et al protocol, using a sterile swab that was moistened with 1mL saline solution; both nostrils were scraped using this swab. Twenty minutes after this, laminas were stained using May-Grunwald-Giemsa to eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages and epithelial cells identification. Cells were analyzed using a Nikon E600 optical microscope (Nikon, Canada), of 1.000 x magnitude. Whenever possible a total of 200 cells were counted in two slides.
Statistical analysis were performed using Anova variance (Kruskal-Wallis) and Dunn's test for comparisons between groups. To evaluate the association between the qualitative variables we used the chi-square, Statistical software Sigma Plot 12.0 and SPSS 21.0. The confidence interval was 95% (p \<0.05).
