Changes in psychological performances of solvent-poisoned and solvent-exposed workers

Abstract

The changes in psychological performances associated with long-term exposure to organic solvents and solvent mixtures were studied in a group of 56 male workers diagnosed as having an occupational disease caused by solvents. Their mean duration of exposure was 9.1 +/- SD 8.3 years, and they were exposed mainly to halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons and to mixtures of paint solvents. The psychological performances of these solvent-exposed patients were compared with those of 98 styrene-exposed workers and a nonexposed group of 43 construction workers. The applied psychological test variables were factor analyzed, before other statistical analysis, in order to clarify what they measured in the present study. The solvent-exposed group was characterized by a decline in visuomotor performance and decreased freedom from distractibility. The poor visuomotor performances were also related to the long duration of solvent exposure in this group of patients. The index applied for the exposure level revealed no significant relationships to psychological performances among the solvent-exposed patients. The psychological performances of the styrene-exposed group differed only very slightly from those of the nonexposed workers.