Seppäläinen A M, Husman K, Mårtenson C
Scand J Work Environ Health. 1978 Dec;4(4):304-14. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.2695.
Neurophysiological effects of long-term exposure to a mixture of organic solvents was studied among 102 car painters from 27 car repair garages in Helsinki. The reference group consisted of 102 age-matched railroad engineers from the Finnish State Railways. The mean age was 35 years and the exposure time ranged from 1 to 40 years (mean 14.8, SD 8.5). According to measurements the mean concentration of the solvent mixture was relatively low in the garages, namely, 31.8% of the Finnish threshold limit value (TLV), the range of separate components varying from 4 to 212% of the respective TLVs. The main components of about 20 organic solvents of the mixture were toluene, xylene, butyl acetate and white spirit. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) of all the 102 exposed and 102 nonexposed subjects were studied, but electroneuromyographic measurements were made of only 59 car painters and 53 referents with a similar age distribution. Motor (MCV and CVSF) and sensory conduction (SCV) velocities, as well as motor distal latencies, were recorded from nerves in the upper and lower extremities. Abnormal EEGs were encountered in 32 car painters and 37 referents. The frequency of abnormal EEGs was in both groups higher than expected on the basis of EEG literature (about 10%). Twenty-six car painters had a complex of four common symptoms of disturbances in the central nervous system; the same symptom complex was found in 12 engineers. Forty-six percent of the car painters with this symptom complex had an abnormal EEG, while only 26% of those without this symptom complex had an abnormal EEG. Railroad engineers did not show such a tendency. Abnormally slow MCVs or SCVs and/or prolonged motor distal latencies were found in 12 of the 59 car painters but in none of the 53 engineers studied. Other authors have stressed that many solvents primarily cause neuropathy, while objective signs of central nervous involvement have been minor, if any. Our findings are similar; they showed slight positive signs of slowed nerve conduction velocities among the car painters and no increase in EEG abnormalities in comparison to the reference group of railroad engineers.
在赫尔辛基27家汽车修理车库的102名汽车喷漆工中，研究了长期接触有机溶剂混合物的神经生理效应。对照组由芬兰国家铁路公司102名年龄匹配的铁路工程师组成。平均年龄为35岁，接触时间为1至40年（平均14.8年，标准差8.5年）。根据测量，车库中溶剂混合物的平均浓度相对较低，即芬兰阈限值（TLV）的31.8%，各单独成分的范围为各自TLV的4%至212%。该混合物中约20种有机溶剂的主要成分是甲苯、二甲苯、乙酸丁酯和白节油。对所有102名接触者和102名未接触者进行了脑电图（EEG）研究，但仅对59名年龄分布相似的汽车喷漆工和53名对照者进行了神经肌电图测量。记录了上下肢神经的运动（MCV和CVSF）和感觉传导（SCV）速度以及运动远端潜伏期。32名汽车喷漆工和37名对照者出现异常脑电图。两组中异常脑电图的频率均高于脑电图文献预期（约10%）。26名汽车喷漆工有中枢神经系统紊乱的四种常见症状组合；12名工程师也有相同的症状组合。有这种症状组合的汽车喷漆工中46%脑电图异常，而没有这种症状组合的仅26%脑电图异常。铁路工程师未表现出这种趋势。在59名汽车喷漆工中有12名发现运动传导速度（MCV）或感觉传导速度（SCV）异常缓慢和/或运动远端潜伏期延长，但在研究的53名工程师中均未发现。其他作者强调，许多溶剂主要导致神经病变，而中枢神经系统受累的客观体征即使有也很轻微。我们的研究结果与之相似；与铁路工程师对照组相比，汽车喷漆工中神经传导速度略有减慢的阳性迹象，脑电图异常未增加。
