title: Effects of coexposure to noise and mixture of organic solvents on hearing in dockyard workers.
abstract: Questionnaire and audiometric data of 701 dockyard workers (517 noise and organic solvent mixture-exposed and 184 noise-only-exposed) were referred to 205 control subjects not exposed to either noise or solvents. The odds ratio (OR) of hearing loss was significantly increased by approximately 3 times in the noise-only group and by almost 5 times in the noise and solvent group. A moderate effect of solvent ototoxicity, in addition to noise, was observed on hearing threshold at a frequency 8 kHz. ORs for hearing loss were 1.12 for each increment of 1 year of age, 1.07 for every decibel of lifetime noise exposure (dB-A), and 1.004 for each increment of the index of lifetime exposure to solvents. The results suggest an additive damaging effect of coexposure to noise and organic solvents to the auditory organ.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Hazards, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland. marsliw@imp.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Mariola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sliwinska-Kowalska
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zamyslowska-Szmytke
authors.forename: Wieslaw
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Szymczak
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kotylo
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiszer
authors.forename: Wiktor
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wesolowski
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlaczyk-Luszczynska
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bak
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gajda-Szadkowska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012306:Risk; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents