Neurobehavioral impairment and symptoms associated with aluminum remelting

The author's objective was to assess whether aluminum reclamation (recycling) exposure in a plant in the southeastern United States was associated with neurobehavioral and pulmonary impairment and symptoms. The author made cross-sectional comparisons of 41 workers to 32 local and 66 regional referents to assess whether aluminum recycling was associated with neurobehavioral and pulmonary impairment and symptoms. Methods included neurophysiological, psychological, and pulmonary-function tests; a Profile of Mood States (POMS); and questionnaires. The exposed subjects had slower simple and choice reaction times than referents (i.e., 77 milliseconds [ms] versus 137 ms, respectively [p < .0001]); balance in the exposed subjects, measured as sway speed (with eyes closed), was .32 cm/s faster than for referents (p < .005); and color discrimination was less acute in exposed subjects (p < .0001). In the exposed versus referent subjects, Culture Fair scores were lower by a factor of 8.3 (p < .0001), Trail Making A was 10 s longer (p < .001), Trail Making B was 50 s longer (p < .0001), peg placement required an additional 9 s (p < .008), and POMS scores were fourfold higher (p < .0001). These described differences were not explained by age, bias, or confounding factors. Workers had more neurobehavioral, rheumatic, and respiratory symptoms than did referents. The author attributed the differences between the two groups to chemical exposures from aluminum remelting, including aluminum, manganese, vinyl chloride monomer, and other chemicals. Workplace air could not be sampled, but because a problem was identified, levels of these, as well as other chemicals, should be measured in future studies.