Impairment of visuo-vestibular interaction in humans exposed to toluene

15 healthy volunteers were investigated in a vestibulo-oculomotor test battery during toluene exposure. The concentration was comparable to the threshold limit value. The results were compared to an identical air experiment. The intoxication caused an impaired visual suppression during a pseudo-random oscillatory swing test and also an increased saccade speed. Other vestibular-oculomotor parameters were normal. The findings are in accordance with our earlier study on styrene in humans, showing that the visual suppression test and the saccade test are sensitive parameters assessing neurotoxic influences by organic solvents.