Hirata M, Taoda K, Ono-Ogasawara M, Takaya M, Hisanaga N
Department of Occupational Health, Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Japan.
Ind Health. 1998 Jul;36(3):300-3. doi: 10.2486/indhealth.36.300.
A male worker who handled thallium-containing raw material for glass manufacturing over a period of four years complained of alopecia, abdominal pain, diarrhea and tingling in the four extremities. Neurological examination of this patient revealed signs of mild glove-stocking-type polyneuropathy. Lower sensory nerve conduction velocity of the median nerve in the right hand than in the left hand suggested that conduction function in the dominant hand was reduced. The thallium content of the hair, as determined by an ICP-MS method, was 20 ng/g for the patient and 576 ng/g for his successor in the time of 32 months and 13 months, respectively, after they had ceased their glass production work. Those levels of thallium exposure were considered high, compared with the control levels so far reported. The clinical course of signs and symptoms, neurophysiological findings and thallium content of hair suggested that the patient suffered from chronic poisoning due to occupational exposure to thallium-containing dust.
一名男性工人在四年时间里处理含铊的玻璃制造原材料，他抱怨自己出现了脱发、腹痛、腹泻以及四肢刺痛的症状。对该患者进行的神经学检查显示出轻度手套袜套型多发性神经病变的迹象。右手正中神经的感觉神经传导速度低于左手，这表明优势手的传导功能有所下降。通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定，该患者头发中的铊含量在停止玻璃生产工作32个月后为20纳克/克，其继任者在停止工作13个月后的铊含量为576纳克/克。与目前报道的对照水平相比，这些铊暴露水平被认为较高。症状体征的临床病程、神经生理学检查结果以及头发中的铊含量表明，该患者因职业接触含铊粉尘而遭受慢性中毒。
