Neurobehavioral changes of shipyard painters exposed to mixed organic solvents.
This study was conducted to evaluate neurobehavioral changes arising from occupational exposure to organic solvents among shipyard painters and to establish whether a dose-effect relation existed where there was any observed impairment of neurobehavioral performance by running the test of Simple Reaction Time (SRT), Symbol Digit Substitution (SD), and Finger Tapping Speed (FT) with a computer-assisted neurobehavioral test battery. The study group consisted of 180 shipyard painters and 60 reference workers. The workers answered a self-administered questionnaire on occupational, medical history, and demographic characteristics including age, work duration, education level, and quantity and frequency of alcohol and smoking, and performed three psychometric tests on the Korean Computerized Neurobehavioral tests. To estimate cumulative exposure level, samples of ambient air on 61 painters were analyzed using a gas chromatograph. Shipyard painters and the reference group showed significant differences in the results of test of SD, FT of dominant hand, and FT of non-dominant hand. The test results of SD of shipyard painters also showed significant difference by duration of work. This suggests that occupational exposure of organic solvent could induce neurobehavioral changes in the shipyard painters. Therefore an objective neurobehavioral tests recommended on evaluating neurobehavioral performance of long-term solvent-exposed shipyard workers.
Lee
Choong Ryeol
CR
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, College of Medicine University of Ulsan 290-3, Jeonha-Dong, Dong-Gu, Ulsan, 682-714, South Korea.
Jeong
Kyoung Sook
KS
Kim
Yangho
Y
Yoo
Cheol In
CI
Lee
Ji Ho
JH
Choi
Young Hee
YH
D000328:Adult; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010150:Paint; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects*
D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012997:Solvents