TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of air pollution from biomass burning in nasal mucociliary clearance of Brazilian sugarcane cutters JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p1034 AU - Aline D. Ferreira AU - Ercy M.C. Ramos AU - Giovana N.B. Ferrari AU - Rafaella F. Xavier AU - Luiz C.S. Carvalho Junior AU - Alessandra C. Toledo AU - Dionei Ramos Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1034.abstract N2 - Nasal mucociliary (NM) system is the first line of defense of the upper airways and it is responsible for the clearance of inhaled particles, including particulate matter (PM) from biomass burning. Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated a consistent association between levels of air pollution from biomass burning and increase in hospitalization for respiratory diseases and mortality. About 44,3% of the sugarcane is burned to facilitate the manual harvesting every year and the most exposed people are the sugarcane cutters. Nevertheless no previous reports studied respiratory effects of PM from biomass burning in these individuals. This study evaluated the effects of exposure to PM from biomass burning on NM transport after harvest. Twenty-five non-smokers (mean age = 25,7±4,5 years; BMI 23,9±2,6 kg/m2) workers in a Sugar and Ethanol Company located in Martinopolis, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in April/2010, were evaluated in two periods: pre-harvest season and three months after harvest. Mucociliary clearance by saccharin transit time test (STT) and nasal symptoms were assessed. STT was 7,9±3,4 min at pre-harvest and decreased significantly after harvest 3,9±2,2 min, p<0.001).Nasal symptoms did not change following exposure. Our results suggest that acute exposure to particulate matter from sugarcane burned affects mucociliary clearance in non-smokers workers in the absence of symptoms. ER -