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Chemical-Induced Hearing Loss in Shipyard Workers
Nicholas Cody Schaal1, Jeremy M Slagley, Cynthia McCormick Richburg
1Uniformed Services University, Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics Department, Bethesda, Maryland (Dr Schaal); Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Safety Sciences Department, Indiana, Pennsylvania (Drs Schaal, Slagley, Zreiqat, Paschold); Department of the Air Force, Air Force Institute of Technology, Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (Dr Slagley); and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services, Indiana, Pennsylvania (Dr Richburg).
Objective:
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of lead, cadmium, arsenic, toluene, and xylene exposure on hearing compared with noise exposures alone.
Methods:
Personnel at a shipyard (n = 1266) were divided into four exposure groups on the basis of concentrations: low metals/low solvents/high noise (reference group), high metals/high solvents/low noise, high metals/low solvents/high noise, and high metals/high solvents/high noise. Hearing changes occurring from the years 2004 to 2015 were analyzed.
Results:
Hearing changes were significantly worse at 1000 Hz (P = 0.007), averaged across 2000 to 4000 Hz (P = 0.014), and averaged across 500 to 6000 Hz (P = 0.014) for the high metals/high solvent/high noise group compared with the low metals/low solvents/high noise only reference group.
Conclusion:
Simultaneous exposures classified as high for metals/solvents/noise appear to damage hearing more than exposure to noise alone. Hearing conservation programs should take into consideration combined exposures to metals, solvents, and noise, not simply exposure to noise.
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