A group of 23 storage battery workers exposed to lead was studied when entering for the first time lead exposed work. Follow-up examinations were performed after one and two years of work and the same measurements were similarly performed to matched controls. The motor distal latency of the median nerve became significantly longer and the distal sensory conduction velocity of the median nerve slower among the lead workers already during the first year of lead work. At the 2-yr examination also the mean hemoglobin level was slightly lower for the lead workers. The impairment in the nerve conduction velocities was mainly due to those workers whose blood lead level had quickly risen to above 30 micrograms/100 ml, the maximal blood lead within the group being 48 micrograms/100 ml, while those workers whose blood lead remained below 30 micrograms/100 ml had similar conduction velocities as the controls.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Subclinical neurotoxic lead effects: two-year follow-up studies with psychological test methods.

Using a prospective, follow-up approach a group of storage battery plant workers was tested by means of a number of psychodiagnostic tests, as e.g., subtests of the WAIS and WMS, Bourdon-Wiersma test, Santa Ana test, before and two years after entering lead-works. Their performance was compared with that of an age-equivalent group of non-exposed controls. Blood lead levels of the lead group increased from an initial 15.3 +/- 6.7 micrograms/dl (Mean +/- SD) to a final 30.5 +/- 9.6 micrograms/dl after two years, whereas the corresponding PbB-value of the controls was 10.5 +/- 3.7 micrograms/dl and 10.3 +/- 4.0 micrograms/dl, respectively. In the primary psychological examination there were no detectable performance differences between the exposed and controls. Whereas the control group displayed pronounced performance improvement due to training for most of the tests over the two-year period, a sizeable portion of the exposed group exhibited even performance deterioration. Group-comparisons were tested by the non-parametric ch 2-test and two-sided Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The most sensitive indicators of psychological impairment among the lead workers were Block Design test, Santa Ana coordination test and Digit Span test. It is concluded that the impairment of CNS function, as evidenced by differential test performance, was caused by lead exposure. No exact threshold for impaired performances could be estimated.

Female↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Occupational epidemiology: developments and perspectives.

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Environmental Monitoring↗