 the nasal cavity is susceptible to chemically induced injury as a result of exposure to inhaled irritants . 
 some responses of the nasal mucosa to inhaled toxicants are species specific . 
 these species - related differences in response may be due to variations in structural , physiologic , and biochemical factors , such as gross nasal cavity structure , distribution of luminal epithelial cell populations along the nasal airway , intranasal airflow patterns , nasal mucociliary apparatus , and nasal xenobiotic metabolism among animal species . 
 this paper reviews the comparative anatomy and irritant - induced pathology of the nasal cavity in laboratory animals . 
 the toxicologist , pathologist , and environmental risk assessor must have a good working knowledge of the similarities and differences in normal nasal structure and response to injury among species before they can select animal models for nasal toxicity studies , recognize toxicant - induced lesions in the nasal airway , and extrapolate experimental results to estimate the possible effects of an inhaled toxicant on the human nasal airway.imagesplate 1.plate 2 . 
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