Effects of organic solvents on behavioral performance of workers in the paint industry

A field study was conducted to investigate the effects on central nervous system function of workers in the paint industry who were exposed daily to a mixture of organic solvents. Forty-seven solvent exposed workers and forty-seven age matched non-exposed industrial workers were examined before and after a work day with a battery of tests including simple reaction time, perceptual speed, short-term memory and critical flicker fusion. A questionnaire was used to assess subjective symptoms. The exposed group consisted of workers who had been occupationally exposed for more than 10 years or were exposed to concentrations of solvents clearly above the TLV's at the time of the investigation. On the average, the exposed workers performed less well than the non-exposed group on the tests. The differences were most pronounced for the group exposed to higher solvent concentrations. The result could be interpreted as primarily due to an acute effect.