Open AccessCar painters` exposure to a mixture of organic solvents. Serum activities of liver enzymes.
Author(s) -
Kari Kurppa,
Kaj Husman
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.2491
Subject(s) - threshold limit value , alanine aminotransferase , xylene , enzyme , toluene , liver enzyme , organic solvent , ornithine carbamoyltransferase , transferase , solvent , ornithine , chemistry , medicine , chromatography , biochemistry , organic chemistry , amino acid , arginine , chemical engineering , engineering
The serum activities of liver enzymes of car painters (N = 102) exposed to a mixture of solvents [toluene, xylene, and other constituents; about half the threshold limit value recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in 1981] were compared with those of age-matched referents (N = 102). The activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, ornithine carbamoyl transferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase did not differ between the exposed and the nonexposed groups. Simultaneous neurophysiological and ophthalmological examinations of the same car painters had distinguished subgroups of "solvent-affected" and "non-affected" car painters. The enzyme activities were not higher in the "affected" subgroups than in the "nonaffected" ones. The results suggest that car painters' exposure to organic solvents (at the overall level of half the threshold limit value of the ACGIH) does not increase liver enzyme activities in routine tests.