Audiometric Findings in Workers Exposed to Low Levels of Styrene and Noise

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cheng J ; Ernstgard L ; Franks J ; Johnson AC ; Krieg EF ; Lindblad AC ; Morata, Thais C. ; Nylen P ; Svensson EB
• Description:
  Audiometry and exposure measurements were conducted on workers from fiberglass and metal products manufacturing plants and a mail distribution terminal (N = 313). Workers exposed to noise and styrene had significantly worse pure-tone thresholds at 2, 3, 4, and 6 kHz when compared with noise-exposed or nonexposed workers. Age, noise exposure, and urinary mandelic acid (a biologic marker for styrene) were the variables that met the significance level criterion in the multiple logistic regression. The odds ratios for hearing loss were 1.19 for each increment of 1 year of age (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.28), 1.18 for every decibel >85 dB(A) of noise exposure (95% CI, 1.01-1.34), and 2.44 for each millimole of mandelic acid per gram of creatinine in urine (95% CI, 1.01-5.89). Our findings suggest that exposure to styrene even below recommended values had a toxic effect on the auditory system. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Hearing Loss Irritants Nervous System Noise Occupational Health Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Auditory-system Hearing-loss Neurotoxicity Noise-exposure Respiratory-irritants
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022212
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2002 Sep; 44(9):806-814
• Contact Point Address:
  Thais Morata, NIOSH/MS C-27, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  tmorata@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Styrene (CAS RN 100-42-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Hearing Loss
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:873806bcf1c8d59d1f4d5b028c07f9fd5accfff26bcc3b1b54877b7829a32d0bc6a70206d769fc877abe7a93907873f7cb24308f39af6943f7371629c19f03eb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199071/cdc_199071_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 801.60 KB ]