Organic solvent exposure and contrast sensitivity: comparing men and women

• Published in: Brazilian journal of medical and biological research 2018-01, Vol.51 (3), p.e6568
• Main Authors: Oliveira, A R, Campos Neto, A A, de Andrade, M J O, de Medeiros, P C B, Dos Santos, N A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - anatomy & histology; Adolescent; Adult; Analysis; BIOLOGY; Body fat; Brazil - epidemiology; Chronic exposure; Comparative analysis; Contrast sensitivity (Vision); Contrast Sensitivity - drug effects; Educational Status; Female; Gas chromatography; Gender; Humans; Male; Males; MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL; Microclimate; Neurotoxic agents; Neurotoxicity; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Psychophysics; Sensory Thresholds - physiology; Sex Factors; Solvents; Solvents - adverse effects; Spatial frequencies; Spatial Learning - physiology; Visual perception; Visual Perception - physiology; Women; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0100-879X; 1414-431X; 1414-431X; 1678-4510
• DOI: 10.1590/1414-431X20176568

The goal of this study was to compare the visual contrast sensitivity (CS) of men and women exposed and not exposed to organic solvents. Forty-six volunteers of both genders aged between 18 and 41 years (mean±SD=27.72±6.28) participated. Gas station attendants were exposed to gas containing 46.30 ppm of solvents at a temperature of 304±274.39 K, humidity of 62.25±7.59% and ventilation of 0.69±0.46 m/s (a passive gas chromatography-based sampling method was used considering the microclimate variables). Visual CS was measured via the psychophysical method of two-alternative forced choice using vertical sinusoidal gratings with spatial frequencies of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 16.0 cpd (cycles per degree) and an average luminance of 34.4 cd/m2. The results showed that visual CS was significantly lower (P