Journal ArticleDOI
Investigations on neurotoxicity of chemical substances at the workplace. III. Determination of the motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity in persons occupationally exposed to trichloroethylene
TLDR
Chronic lead exposure resulting in blood-lead levels of below 70 μg/dl is no occupational risk causing a functionally significant slowing of nerve conduction velocities, and multiple stepwise regression analyses revealed statistically significant correlations between the four NCV and age as well as Pb-B.Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was performed in order to investigate the influence of chronic lead-exposure on the peripheral nervous system. We examined 148 male workers of a storage battery manufacturing plant, who had been exposed to lead metal and inorganic lead compounds for 1 to 28 years (mean 11 years). Fifteen workers with non-occupational risks of peripheral neuropathy (former diseases, alcohol abuse, medication) were excluded from the study. The investigation program comprised: case history, physical examination, analyses of blood- and urine-samples and determination of maximal motor, mixed and sensory conduction velocity (NCV) of the ulnar and median nerve of the right forearm. Objectively no worker showed any signs of health effects related to lead exposure. The “Biological Monitoring” included the determination of (1) Blood-lead level (Pb-B), (2) Free erythrocyte porphyrins (FEP), (3) δ-Aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) and (4) δ-Aminolevulinic acid in urine (ALA-U). Further “time-weighted-average (TWA)”-values of Pb-B were calculated on the basis of several determinations over the period 1975–1981. The following “actual” (“TWA”) median values resulted: Pb-B 53 μg/dl (54 μg/dl), ALA-U 5.6 mg/l (8.4 mg/l), FEP 2.0 mg/l (2.0 mg/l). The “Biologischer Arbeitsstoff Toleranz Wert (BAT)” of 70 μg//dl for Pb-B was exceeded in 15 workers (11%), and of 15 mg/l for ALA-U in 30 cases (23%). In comparison with age-matched controls, the lead workers showed a mild slowing of NCV with mean values between 0.8 and 2.0 m/s. Multiple stepwise regression analyses revealed statistically significant correlations between the four NCV and age as well as Pb-B. There were better correlations by using “TWA” than “actual” data of Pb-B. Consideration of the results of the regression analyses, together with an evaluation of the individual neurophysiological status as a function of internal lead exposure, a “dose-effect-relationship” was found only in the case of Pb-B exceeding 70 μg/dl. From our study it is concluded that chronic lead exposure resulting in blood-lead levels of below 70 μg/dl is no occupational risk causing a functionally significant slowing of nerve conduction velocities.read more
Citations
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Toxicological Profile for Lead
Henry Abadin,Annette Ashizawa,Yee-Wan Stevens,Fernando Llados,Gary Diamond,Gloria Sage,Mario Citra,Antonio Quinones,Stephen J Bosch,Steven G Swarts +9 more
Journal ArticleDOI
Toxicological Characteristics of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Developmental Toxicity, Carcinogenicity, and Mutagenicity
TL;DR: Toxicological characteristics of endocrine-disrupting chemicals showing estrogen-modulating effects were closely related to carcinogenicity or mutagenicity with a high degree of sensitivity, while effects on thyroid hormone were found for heavy metals.
Journal ArticleDOI
Human Health Effects of Tetrachloroethylene: Key Findings and Scientific Issues
Kathryn Z. Guyton,Karen A. Hogan,Cheryl Siegel Scott,Glinda S. Cooper,Ambuja S. Bale,Leonid Kopylev,Stanley Barone,Susan L. Makris,Barbara S. Glenn,Ravi P. Subramaniam,Maureen R. Gwinn,Rebecca C. Dzubow,Weihsueh A. Chiu +12 more
TL;DR: The 2011 IRIS assessment of dichloromethane provides insights into the toxicity of a commonly used solvent, including exposure sources, identification of potential health effects, and updated physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling.
Journal ArticleDOI
Subclinical neurophysiological effects of lead: A review on peripheral, central, and autonomic nervous system effects in lead workers.
TL;DR: An overview of research addressing subclinical neurophysiological effects of lead in workers exposed to lead is presented and it is suggested that, on a group basis, the reduction in the NCV, together with the effects on the P300 latency, postural balance, and CV(RR), occurs at a mean blood lead concentration as low as 30-40 microg/dL.
Book ChapterDOI
Neurotoxicity of metals
Samuel Caito,Michael Aschner +1 more
TL;DR: Sources of occupational metal exposure, metal homeostasis in the human body, susceptibility of the nervous system to metals, detoxification, detection of metals in biologic samples, and chelation therapeutic strategies are discussed.
References
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Book
Experimental and clinical neurotoxicology
TL;DR: This book will be indispensable to experimental neuroscientists, toxicologists, and practitioners of human and animal medicine, and provides an authoritative, critical and pithy reference work for public health specialists and those within the legal profession.
Journal Article
European standardized method for the determination of delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity in blood.
Berlin A,Karl-Heinz Schaller +1 more
Journal ArticleDOI
Age‐related changes in peripheral and central nerve conduction in man
TL;DR: Somatosensory evoked potential latencies, motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities, and F-wave latenies were measured in 15 elderly normal subjects, and the results were used to derive indirect estimates of spinal cord CVs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Normal sensory conduction in the nerves of the leg in man
Friedrich Behse,Fritz Buchthal +1 more
TL;DR: Sensory conduction was studied along distal and proximal segments of the superficial peroneal, sural, and posterior tibial nerves in 71 healthy subjects 15 to 72 years of age and normal values were established.