In vivo observations of skin capillaries in workers exposed to vinyl chloride. An English-American comparison.

An unselected sample of vinyl chloride (VC)-exposed individuals, all employees of a polyvinyl chloride production plant in England (129 subjects), were examined by in vivo capillary microscopy. Results were compared with those previously obtained from a similar study in the USA to determine whether an association between VC exposure and capillary abnormalities could be found in different environments. The results showed a similar distribution of capillary abnormalities among the VC workers in both countries (39.5% in England compared with 36% in the USA). These capillary abnormalities were significantly more frequent among VC-exposed subjects than among control industrial workers (7.7%, 6%). In vivo microscopy also showed a higher incidence of papular lesions (13.5%) than had been detected clinically (1%).