Evaluation of organic solvents effects on physiological parameters of exposed people in industry

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most common chemical exposures is organic solvents in the workplace and some of them are toxic to human health. The purpose of this study was to determine the organic solvents effect on physiological parameters of exposed people in industry. Methods: This study was descriptive - analytical and in terms of time cross-sectional that the 50 workers were employed in the home appliance industry. The data were collected in three stages: 1) through observation and interview 2) reviewing periodic examinations of workers 3) measure the concentration of BTEX. Descriptive and analytical statistics analysis was performed with SPSS software version 20. Results: According to the results obtained spirometry parameters in the exposed group (FEV1=89.62±10.53) is lower than the non-exposed (FEV1=97.32±8.92) while the average liver enzymes in exposed workers (SGOT= 29.56±9.49 and SGPT=38.67±17.5) was higher than non-exposed (SGOT= 17.5±6.38 and SGPT=21.11±8). Conclusion: Long-term exposure to BTEX leads to a reduction in respiratory capacity, and increase liver enzymes. So, with proper engineering and management controls and periodic examination of such problems can be prevented in workers.

Keywords

• Organic solvents
• BTEX
• Exposure
• Spirometry
• liver enzyme