Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2002 Dec;59(12):824–829. doi: 10.1136/oem.59.12.824

Relation between colour vision loss and occupational styrene exposure level

Y Gong 1, R Kishi 1, Y Katakura 1, E Tsukishima 1, K Fujiwara 1, S Kasai 1, T Satoh 1, F Sata 1, T Kawai 1
PMCID: PMC1763595  PMID: 12468749

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the relation between colour vision loss and the exposure level of styrene. Exposure level included the current exposure concentration, past cumulative exposure, and the maximum exposure level in the past.

Methods: Colour vision was examined by the Lanthony desaturated panel D-15 test for 76 subjects exposed to styrene in a fibreglass reinforced plastics boat plant (as an exposed group) and 102 non-exposed subjects (as a control group). The current exposure level was expressed by the concentration of atmospheric styrene and end shift urinary mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) levels. The individual cumulative exposure index (CEI) was calculated, based on the exposure frequency and urinary MA concentrations measured for the past eight years.

Results: The Colour Confusion Index (CCI) of the exposed group showed a significant difference from the age matched controls. However, only a slight significant relation was found between CCI and the concentration of urinary MA plus PGA. In this study, the exposed group was further divided into two subgroups (as sub-MA+PGA groups) by the median of urinary MA plus PGA of each subject. The dividing line between the subgroups was 0.24 g/g creatinine, which was equivalent to an atmospheric concentration of styrene of about 10 ppm. The CCI values of both the sub-MA+PGA groups were significantly higher than that of the control group. The relation between CCI value and the maximum exposure concentration in the past eight years was examined. It was found that the CCI values of the group with the maximum exposure concentration of styrene over 50 ppm were significantly higher than that of the other groups.

Conclusions: Exposure to styrene would impair colour vision even if the exposure concentration was lower than 10 ppm. Furthermore, if the maximum concentration of styrene exposure transiently exceeded 50 ppm in the past, the styrene related damage might remain. Thus, the safe limit of exposure to styrene and the relation between exposure to styrene and the degree of damage to ocular structure, retina, optic nerve, and brain need to be re-examined.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (164.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Agrawal A. K., Srivastava S. P., Seth P. K. Effect of styrene on dopamine receptors. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 1982 Oct;29(4):400–403. doi: 10.1007/BF01605602. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bardodej Z., Bardodejova E. Biotransformation of ethyl benzene, styrene, and alpha-methylstyrene in man. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1970 Mar-Apr;31(2):206–209. doi: 10.1080/0002889708506230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bowman K. J. A method for quantitative scoring of the Farnsworth Panel D-15. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) 1982 Dec;60(6):907–916. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.1982.tb00621.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Campagna D., Gobba F., Mergler D., Moreau T., Galassi C., Cavalleri A., Huel G. Color vision loss among styrene-exposed workers neurotoxicological threshold assessment. Neurotoxicology. 1996 Summer;17(2):367–373. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Campagna D., Mergler D., Huel G., Bélanger S., Truchon G., Ostiguy C., Drolet D. Visual dysfunction among styrene-exposed workers. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1995 Oct;21(5):382–390. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.53. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Castillo L., Baldwin M., Sassine M. P., Mergler D. Cumulative exposure to styrene and visual functions. Am J Ind Med. 2001 Apr;39(4):351–360. doi: 10.1002/ajim.1025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chia S. E., Jeyaratnam J., Ong C. N., Ng T. P., Lee H. S. Impairment of color vision among workers exposed to low concentrations of styrene. Am J Ind Med. 1994 Oct;26(4):481–488. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700260405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Eguchi T., Kishi R., Harabuchi I., Yuasa J., Arata Y., Katakura Y., Miyake H. Impaired colour discrimination among workers exposed to styrene: relevance of a urinary metabolite. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Aug;52(8):534–538. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.8.534. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fallas C., Fallas J., Maslard P., Dally S. Subclinical impairment of colour vision among workers exposed to styrene. Br J Ind Med. 1992 Oct;49(10):679–682. doi: 10.1136/oem.49.10.679. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Flodin U., Ekberg K., Andersson L. Neuropsychiatric effects of low exposure to styrene. Br J Ind Med. 1989 Nov;46(11):805–808. doi: 10.1136/oem.46.11.805. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gobba F., Cavalleri A. Evolution of color vision loss induced by occupational exposure to chemicals. Neurotoxicology. 2000 Oct;21(5):777–781. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gobba F. Color vision: a sensitive indicator of exposure to neurotoxins. Neurotoxicology. 2000 Oct;21(5):857–862. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gobba F., Galassi C., Imbriani M., Ghittori S., Candela S., Cavalleri A. Acquired dyschromatopsia among styrene-exposed workers. J Occup Med. 1991 Jul;33(7):761–765. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ikeda M., Koizumi A., Miyasaka M., Watanabe T. Styrene exposure and biologic monitoring in FRP boat production plants. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1982 Feb;49(3-4):325–339. doi: 10.1007/BF00377941. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kishi R., Eguchi T., Yuasa J., Katakura Y., Arata Y., Harabuchi I., Kawai T., Masuchi A. Effects of low-level occupational exposure to styrene on color vision: dose relation with a urinary metabolite. Environ Res. 2001 Jan;85(1):25–30. doi: 10.1006/enrs.2000.4227. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Matikainen E., Forsman-Grönholm L., Pfäffli P., Juntunen J. Neurotoxicity in workers exposed to styrene. IARC Sci Publ. 1993;(127):153–161. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mergler D., Huel G., Bélanger S., Bowler R. M., Truchon G., Drolet D., Ostiguy C. Surveillance of early neurotoxic dysfunction. Neurotoxicology. 1996 Fall-Winter;17(3-4):803–812. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Miller R. R., Newhook R., Poole A. Styrene production, use, and human exposure. Crit Rev Toxicol. 1994;24 (Suppl):S1–10. doi: 10.3109/10408449409020137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Mutti A., Romanelli A., Falzoi M., Lucertini S., Franchini I. Styrene metabolism and striatal dopamine depletion in rabbits. Arch Toxicol Suppl. 1985;8:447–450. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-69928-3_101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Romanelli A., Falzoi M., Mutti A., Bergamaschi E., Franchini I. Effects of some monocyclic aromatic solvents and their metabolites on brain dopamine in rabbits. J Appl Toxicol. 1986 Dec;6(6):431–436. doi: 10.1002/jat.2550060609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shirley E. A non-parametric equivalent of Williams' test for contrasting increasing dose levels of a treatment. Biometrics. 1977 Jun;33(2):386–389. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Triebig G., Stark T., Ihrig A., Dietz M. C. Intervention study on acquired color vision deficiencies in styrene-exposed workers. J Occup Environ Med. 2001 May;43(5):494–500. doi: 10.1097/00043764-200105000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Williams D. A. A note on Shirley's nonparametric test for comparing several dose levels with a zero-dose control. Biometrics. 1986 Mar;42(1):183–186. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES