PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Gaussin

Publications and source records attributed to J Gaussin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Health surveillance of workers exposed to tetrachloroethylene in dry-cleaning shops.

Behavioral, renal, hepatic and pulmonary tests were applied to 22 subjects exposed to tetrachloroethylene in 6 dry-cleaning shops. The results were compared with those obtained in 33 subjects non-occupationally exposed to organic solvents. The intensity of exposure was monitored by personal environmental monitoring and by urine analysis for trichloroacetic acid and expired air and venous blood analysis for tetrachloroethylene. The time-weighted average exposure to tetrachloroethylene amounted to 21 ppm (range 9 to 38 ppm). The correlation between the concentration of tetrachloroethylene in ambient air sampled with the charcoal tube method and with a passive dosimeter indicates that the latter can correctly estimate the time-weighted average exposure to the solvent. In view of the long biological half-life of tetrachloroethylene, the internal dose may be better estimated by measuring its concentration in blood 16 h after the end of exposure (i.e. before resuming work the next morning). The present study suggests that if the blood concentration of tetrachloroethylene does not exceed 1 mg/l, 16 h after the end of exposure, the time-weighted average exposure is likely to have been below 50 ppm. Exposure to such level for 6 years on the average does not seem to exert any adverse effect on the central nervous system, the liver and the kidney.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Comparison of renal function and psychomotor performance in workers exposed to elemental mercury.

Renal function and psychomotor performance (eye-hand coordination, arm-hand steadiness) of a group of 43 workers exposed to mercury vapor were examined. Their mean age an average duration of exposure to mercury were 38 and 5 years, respectively. The results were compared with those in a matched group of 47 control workers. Increased proteinuria and albuminuria were found slightly more prevalent in the Hg-exposed group than in the control workers. These results are in agreement with those found during a previous study carrier out in another group of workers also exposed to elemental mercury (Buchet et al. 1980). The scores of the psychomotor tests were less satisfactory in the Hg workers than in the control workers, the arm-hand steadiness test being more discriminative than the eye-hand coordination test. Preclinical changes in psychomotor function can be detected independently of the presence of signs of renal dysfunction. No clear-cut relationships were found between the prevalence of abnormal psychomotor scores and the level of mercury in blood (HgB) or in urine (HgU). Increased prevalences of abnormal psychomotor scores seem however to occur for HgB between 1 and 2 micrograms/100 and for HgU between 50 and 100 micrograms/g creatinine. Therefore, a biologic threshold limit value of 50 micrograms/g creatinine in proposed for urinary mercury to prevent the development of preclinical effects on the central nervous system. A similar critical HgU level based on renal dysfunction prevalences has been suggested in a previous study.

Adult↗