Reaction time of industrial workers exposed to organic solvents: relationship to degree of exposure and psychological performance.

Auditory reaction time (RT) was examined on a day free from work and on a working day in 54 workers exposed to organic solvents and in 28 unexposed workers. Medical and occupational history was recorded and neurological examination and psychological testing carried out to establish quantitative parameters of exposure and cerebral function. There was a wider 95% range of the RT in the exposed group compared to the control group on the working day and a tendency in the same direction on the day free from work. There was no difference in the means of the RT, or within the groups between the examinations on the two days. The increased RT 95% range is interpreted as indicating an impaired ability in the exposed workers to maintain their attention during the experimental period, owing to chronic exposure of organic solvents. RT measurements did not correlate with exposure or psychological performance. RT would seem to be a means of measuring subclinical effects of exposure to organic solvents.