Introduction: The laundry of Assiut university hospitals receives huge amount of linen daily. Laundry workers are exposed to many occupational health hazards which affect the respiratory system. Chemical hazards include detergents, proteolytic enzymes, cotton dusts, fumes and disinfectants. Physical hazards include heat and vapor. Biological hazards include infectious materials.

Objectives: To determine respiratory affection among the laundry workers.

Methods: Cross-sectional study, total coverage of all the 53 laundry workers. The study instruments were: a respiratory symptoms questionnaire, chest examination, pulmonary function tests and environmental observation of the laundry.

Results: 92.5% were males, Smokers represented 58.5% and 35.5% of them were heavy smokers. 9.4% of the laundry workers used masks. Chest symptoms as cough, expectoration, dyspnea and wheezes were found in 34% of the workers and these symptoms worsened by work in 77.8% of them. Pulmonary function tests showed obstructive disorder in 7.5%, restrictive disorder in 3.8% and mixed disorder in 1.9%. Combining history, examination and pulmonary function testing revealed that 9.4% had bronchial asthma and 5.7% had COPD.

Conclusion: Laundry workers are at risk of developing chest symptoms, impairment of pulmonary function, bronchial asthma and COPD which may, in part, be due to their exposure to occupational hazards.