No days with very high pollen

content occurred during the exposure period (Personal communication from Åslög Dahl, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg). No differences were found concerning age and smoking habits between the groups. There was also no difference between the two groups of hairdressers with regard to employment years as a hairdresser, click here working hours or atopy by skin prick test (Table 1). Table 1 Characteristics of the symptomatic (S+) and asymptomatic hairdressers (S−) and pollen allergic women (PA) Study groups S+ n = 17 S− n = 19 PA n = 10 Age (years; mean; SD) 39 (11) 37 (12) 34 (15) Employment years as a hairdresser (mean; SD) 20 (13) 17 (12) – Working activity as a hairdresser (n)  <50 % 3 2 –  51–75 % 6 6 –  76–100 % 8 11 – Smoking habits (n)  Smokers 2 2 0  Never smokers 13 17 9  Ex smokers 2 0 1 Atopy–by history test (n) 0 0 10 Positive skin prick test (n) 1 2 10 Clinical examination A physician (JN) conducted a standardized interview including a medical and occupational history, questions about atopy and smoking habits. Special attention

was given to airway-related symptoms and their relationship to the workplace. Work-related rhinitis was defined according to the position paper for occupational rhinitis by Moscato Tozasertib ic50 et al. (2008) and by Sublett and Bernstein (2010). Atopy by history was defined as having a history of hay fever, asthma or atopic eczema in childhood or adolescence. A physical examination was performed including an anterior rhinoscopy and a skin prick test with 13 common allergens (ALK, Copenhagen, Denmark) and potassium persulphate in fresh solutions with sterile water [0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 % (w/v)]. The reaction was read according to Aas and Belin (1973). The medical examination for the atopics including the quality

of life questionnaires took place before the start of the pollen season. Diary During 4 weeks of exposure, all study subjects filled in a diary including symptoms from the eyes, nose, throat, cough, sputum Demeclocycline production, wheezes, dyspnea, cold/flu symptoms, medication use and if they had been staying out of work due to their symptoms. The hairdressers also stated what hair treatments they accomplished daily, such as bleaching, hair dyeing, hair spraying, applying permanent and the type of products used. They indicated use of ventilation and other protective products such as gloves and apron. The PA group started the diary when having clear allergic symptoms and documented if they reacted to any other agent than pollen. In the AZD1480 results section, symptoms caused by infection are excluded. Nasal lavage A nasal lavage was performed before the exposure period for all subjects. Repeat nasal lavage was performed after 1 week and again after 4 weeks of exposure for the hairdressers.