Hematological changes in sailors from chemical cargo tankers.
The group investigated consisted of 179 sailors from chemical cargo tankers, with an average age of approximately 40 years and duration of special service of between 2-6 years. They were divided into risk groups in accordance with the exposure index. The study comprised 18 voyages, transporting more than 50 chemical substances, mainly benzene, ethyl benzene, acrylonitrile, aniline, acetone, etc.


METHODS
Erythrocytes, hematokrit, hemoglobin, erythrocyte indices, erythrocyte morphology, leukocytes, leukocyte formula, platelets were determined in venous blood, collected at the end of each voyage.


RESULTS
Anemia syndrome, leukocytosis with neutropenia and activation of lymphocytes and monocytes were determined. The observed changes followed the 'exposure-response' relationship. The frequency rate of the deviations varied from 21% for the first risk group, to 10% for the fourth risk group. High correlation between the changes in peripheral blood and the parameters 'special service duration' and 'number of voyages' was determined.
Yaneva
S
S
Black Sea Medical Center Ltd., Occupation Health Service, Varna, Bulgaria.
Zlatev
Z
Z
Totcheva
T
T
D000328:Adult; D001790:Blood Physiological Phenomena; D002617:Chemical Industry; D006801:Humans; D009326:Naval Medicine; D016272:Occupational Health