Car painters' exposure to a mixture of organic solvents. Serum activities of liver enzymes.

The serum activities of liver enzymes of car painters (N = 102) exposed to a mixture of solvents [toluene, xylene, and other constituents; about half the threshold limit value recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in 1981] were compared with those of age-matched referents (N = 102). The activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, ornithine carbamoyl transferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase did not differ between the exposed and the nonexposed groups. Simultaneous neurophysiological and ophthalmological examinations of the same car painters had distinguished subgroups of "solvent-affected" and "non-affected" car painters. The enzyme activities were not higher in the "affected" subgroups than in the "nonaffected" ones. The results suggest that car painters' exposure to organic solvents (at the overall level of half the threshold limit value of the ACGIH) does not increase liver enzyme activities in routine tests.