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

✍ Scribed by H. Roels; R. Lauwerys; J. P. Buchet; A. Bernard; A. Barthels; M. Oversteyns; J. Gaussin

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 916 KB
• Volume: 50
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-0131
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00432495

✦ Synopsis

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 and average duration of exposure to mercury were 38 and 5 years, respectively The results were compared with those obtained 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 carried 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 (Hg B) or in urine (Hg U) Increased prevalences of abnormal psychomotor scores seem however to occur for Hg B between I and 2 g/100 ml and for Hg U between 50 and 100 pg/g creatinine. Therefore, a biologic threshold limit value of 50 Vg/g creatinine is proposed for urinary mercury to prevent the development of preclinical effects on the central nervous system A similar critical Hg U level based on renal dysfunction prevalences has been suggested in a previous study.