Journal article
Health effects of long-term mercury exposure among chloralkali plant workers
American journal of industrial medicine, Vol.39(1), pp.1-18
01/2001
DOI: 10.1002/1097-0274(200101)39:1<1::AID-AJIM1>3.0.CO;2-N
PMID: 11148011
Abstract
Background: Inorganic mercury is toxic to the nervous system, kidneys, and reproductive system. We studied the health effects of mercury exposure among former employees of a chloralkali plant that operated from 1955 to 1994 in Georgia. Methods: Former plant workers and unexposed workers from nearby employers were studied. Exposure was assessed with a job-exposure matrix based on historical measurements and personnel records. Health outcomes were assessed with interviews, physical examinations, neurological and neurobehavioral testing, renal function testing, and urinary porphyrin measurements. Exposure - disease associations were assessed with multivariate modeling. Results: Exposed workers reported more symptoms, and tended toward more physical examination abnormalities, than unexposed workers. Exposed workers performed worse than unexposed subjects on some quantitative tests of vibration sense, motor speed and coordination, and tremor, and on one test of cognitive function. Few findings remained significant when exposure was modeled as a continuous variable. Neither renal function nor porphyrin excretion was associated with mercury exposure. Conclusions: Mercury-exposed chloralkali plant workers reported more symptoms than unexposed controls, but no strong associations were demonstrated with neurological or renal function or with porphyrin excretion. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Health effects of long-term mercury exposure among chloralkali plant workers
- Creators
- Howard Frumkin - Emory UniversityRichard Letz - Emory UniversityPhillip L. Williams - The Environmental Health Science Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.Fredric Gerr - Emory UniversityMarsha Pierce - Coastal Health DistrictAmanda Sanders - Emory UniversityLisa Elon - Emory UniversityClaudine C. Manning - Emory UniversityJames S. Woods - University of WashingtonVicki S. Hertzberg - Emory UniversityPatricia Mueller - Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Atlanta, GA;B. Brooks Taylor - Coastal Health District
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- American journal of industrial medicine, Vol.39(1), pp.1-18
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Inc
- DOI
- 10.1002/1097-0274(200101)39:1<1::AID-AJIM1>3.0.CO;2-N
- PMID
- 11148011
- ISSN
- 0271-3586
- eISSN
- 1097-0274
- Number of pages
- 18
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2001
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; Epidemiology
- Record Identifier
- 9984363665402771
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