Neuropsychological symptoms among tanker drivers exposed to gasoline

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of neuropsychological symptoms over periods of one week and one month among tanker drivers as related to exposure to gasoline (methyl-tert-buthyl ether 10%). Milk delivery drivers acted as controls. In addition to exposure to gasoline, age, chronic diseases, perceived health, working time, work history in the occupation of driver and alcohol consumption were scrutinized for their associations with the symptoms. The target group for the study consisted of 101 road tanker drivers from three Finnish oil companies all around Finland. The control group was 100 milk delivery drivers from two milk companies from the same localities in Finland as the tanker drivers. Standardized symptom interviews were conducted for all drivers. The differences in the occurrences of neuropsychological symptoms between tanker drivers and controls were not statistically significant. The age of the drivers, chronic diseases and perceived health were connected to the occurrence of symptoms among drivers. The results of this study do not exclude the possibility that vulnerable groups exhibit an increased sensitivity to gasoline.