Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Until now,no effective screening tools have been available for evaluating the neurotoxicity of organic solvents and metals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of posturography as a screening tool for the chronic neurotoxicity of organic solvents.
METHOD
36 workers in 4 septic tank manufacturers,who were exposed to styrene over a period of 1 year (exposed group),and 15 hospital volunteer manual workers were examined by posturography.The subjects' physical,medical,and occupational characteristics were obtained by means of a physical examination and a questionnaire. We excluded from both groups those persons who had psychiatric problems, diabetes, neurologic symptoms, gait disturbance,or a history of stroke.The sway area of the exposed group was compared to that of the non-exposed group using bivariate and multiple regression analysis. We controlled a number of variables including age, alcohol consumption,smoking, weight, height, and body mass index.
RESULT
The sway area of the exposed group was found to be higher than that of the non-exposed group after taking into consideration the effects of other characteristics by means of multiple regression analysis.
CONCLUSION
We concluded the posturography would be an effective tool for the screening of chronic neurotoxicity in workers exposed to styrene.

• Keywords: Styrene;Posturography;Phenylglyoxylic acid