[Effect of work in coke-processing plants on the efficiency of selected cognitive processes]

Reports demonstrating the usefulness of neurobehavioral methods in estimation of early results of work in exposure to toxic substances have been quite frequent recently. In this study 198 workers of coking plants (including 137 highly exposed--group I and 61 low or medium exposed--group II) and 50 non-exposed workers constituting the control group have undergone psychological examinations consisting of estimation of perception, short-time memory and learning capabilities. The obtained results give evidence of statistically significant visual and motorial disturbances in group I, as compared to the control group and group II. Also the findings in group II were statistically significantly worse than those in the control group (except learning capabilities). The abnormalities coincided with the results of neurological examination (including EEG) and correlated with the degree of BaP exposure. In this connection it is suggested that the exposed workers should be rotated in their working posts.