Neurobehavioral effects of acute and chronic mixed-solvent exposure in the screen printing industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Echeverria D ; Feldman RG ; Proctor SP ; Schweikert J ; White RF
• Description:
  A 2 year prospective study was conducted on 30 screen printers exposed to mixed solvents with known neurotoxic properties. Higher exposed workers were compared to a low or unexposed group of workers within the same facility and followed longitudinally. All subjects completed a detailed medical and occupational questionnaire, underwent a neurological examination, and took a battery of neuropsychological tests. Air monitoring studies were conducted. Exposures to toluene (108883), methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933), mineral spirits, beta-ether (60297), methylene-chloride (75092), and acetic- acid (64197) were identified based on an industrial hygiene investigation. The highest exposures were found for the ink mix area and the screen washroom area, although all exposure levels were below the recommended threshold values. Of the 30 subjects tested, 12 were classified as having high acute exposure and 16 had high chronic exposure. Higher acute exposure was associated with a poorer performance on tasks relying on visual short term memory and manual motor dexterity and on mood changes when adjusted for the effects of age and education. Subjects with higher chronic exposure exhibited significantly poorer performance on visual memory tasks and mood. None of the subjects demonstrated signs of neurological disease. The authors conclude that, despite the absence of obvious clinical disease, the use of mixed solvents in the screen printing industry may affect central nervous system functioning at the subclinical level. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mental Disorders Mental Health Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Printing Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Nervous-system-disorders Neurotoxic-effects NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents Printing-industry Psychological-disorders Solvent-vapors
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  221-231
• Volume:
  28
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00228466
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 1995 Aug; 28(2):221-231
• Contact Point Address:
  Boston University, School of Medicine, Neurology Department, 80 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetic acid (CAS RN 64-19-7) ; Dichloromethane (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Diethyl ether (CAS RN 60-29-7) ; Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• NORA Priority Area:
  Psychologic Disorders ; Neurotoxic Disorders ; Neurotoxic Effects
• Performing Organization:
  Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19840901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19880926
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:25019ae423f1f75b0b299b7115a2b63f9676807706850249dc0dcf470666c63173ef2341b1eb49df6880060bb1d5dbb44b9db6c3f50a0d7905b1b6a79ff09018
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205183/cdc_205183_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 702.03 KB ]