Neurobehavioural disturbances in workers engaged in high-pressure spray painting

A battery of neurobehavioural tests consisting of reaction time (simple and choice), tweezer dexterity, hand precision, and memory (forward and backward) were administered to a group of painters before and after their work schedule to provide a quantitative assessment of the possible behavioural changes. Their responses on five affective measures, e.g., headache, mental freshness, forgetfulness, sleepiness, and general good health were also collected on visual analogue scales. Analysis of variance indicated significant deterioration of performance on reaction time (choice), tweezer dexterity (accuracy), hand precision (accuracy), and memory (backward) in the painters by the end of their work-shift. Significant deleterious effects were also noted on headache, mental freshness, and sleepiness. The degree of deterioration of their performance on these tests as also of the affective measures were found to be associated with the duration of exposure.