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Published on: March 6, 2018
Neurobehavioral changes in Taiwanese lead-exposed workers
Shun-Sheng Chen1, Tsan-Ju Chen, Chuang-Hao Lin
1Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan. neuron@ms2.hinet.net
Objective:
The dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by lead exposure was evaluated.
Methods:
Workers who have been exposed to lead for at least 3 years and have been informed of having elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) were recruited. According to their current BLLs, 33 and 28 males were assigned to the medium (40-80 microg/dL) and low (<40 microg/dL) BLLs groups, respectively. Sixty-two nonexposed healthy men served as the control group. Their neurobehaviors were examined by a computerized evaluation system.
Results:
Significantly impaired neurobehavioral functions were shown in the medium BLLs group, which included slow performance of psychomotor tasks, impaired processing of visual-spatial information, reduced memory and learning functions, low performance accuracy, slow execution of responses, and poor attentional control.
Conclusions:
Subtle CNS dysfunction could be detected from lead-exposed workers who have no obvious neurologic and cognitive deficits.