A probable case of chronic occupational thallium poisoning in a glass factory

A male worker who handled thallium-containing raw material for glass manufacturing over a period of four years complained of alopecia, abdominal pain, diarrhea and tingling in the four extremities. Neurological examination of this patient revealed signs of mild glove-stocking-type polyneuropathy. Lower sensory nerve conduction velocity of the median nerve in the right hand than in the left hand suggested that conduction function in the dominant hand was reduced. The thallium content of the hair, as determined by an ICP-MS method, was 20 ng/g for the patient and 576 ng/g for his successor in the time of 32 months and 13 months, respectively, after they had ceased their glass production work. Those levels of thallium exposure were considered high, compared with the control levels so far reported. The clinical course of signs and symptoms, neurophysiological findings and thallium content of hair suggested that the patient suffered from chronic poisoning due to occupational exposure to thallium-containing dust.