Toxicity 1

TOXICITY OF HYDROCARBON
VAPOURS THE TOXICITY OF
HYDROCARBON GAS IS NOT AF
EFFECTED BY PRESSURE OF INERT
GAS. BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE GAS
POCKETS, GASFREEING FOR ENTRY
INTO A SPACE MUST CONT UNTIL A
1% LOWER FLAMMABLE LIMIT
(LFL) READING IS OBTAINED FOR
THE ENTIRE COMPARTMENT ON THE
PORTABLE HYDROCARBON GAS
ANALYSER.
Occupational solvent intoxication 2

Occupational
solvent
intoxication –
what does i
mean?
 Occupational solvent intoxication 3

The organic solvents evaporate

easily, and this makes them easy to
inhale. The solvents may pollute
working environment, and may enter
the lungs of the workers. From the
lungs the solvents enter the blood.
In addition, organic solvents may
enter the blood by penetrating the
skin. The blood transports the
solvents to different parts of the
body, including the nervous system.
 Acute Intoxication 4

WHAT
IS
ACUTE
INTOXICATION?
 Acute Intoxication 5

When the concentration of organic

solvents is too high in an environment,
this may give rise to symptoms of
acute poisoning in exposed workers.
Common symptoms of a beginning
acute intoxication are: Tiredness or
feeling "high", headache, nausea and
dizziness. If the concentration of the
solvents reaches certain levels, the
exposed workers may lose
consciousness and die.
 Chronic Intoxication 6

WHAT
IS
CHRONIC
INTOXICATION?
 Chronic Intoxication 7

Exposure which consists of the

inhalation of organic solvents over a
long period may give rise to the
"chronic organic solvent intoxication
syndrome". Workers with this
condition develop symptoms which
exist whether or not they are
exposed to solvents at the time.
 Chronic Intoxication (Cont.) 8

Typical symptoms of chronic organic

solvent intoxication affecting the main
part of the brain are: An abnormal
fatigue, reduction of memory,
concentration difficulties, irritability,
depression, anxiety, headache and
dizziness.
 
 Chronic Intoxication (Cont.) 9

If the cerebellum is affected, this

may lead to an unsteady gait. When
the peripheral nerves are affected,
there may be reduced muscular
power and loss of sensation in arms
and legs. In addition, reduced
sexual desire and impotence may be
caused by a chronic solvent
intoxication.
 The chronic organic solvent
intoxication syndrome 10

No cure for this syndrome exists.

Still, the diagnostic work is of great
importance. A person with this
syndrome must avoid further
exposure to organic solvents to
present the development of further
damage in the nervous system.
 The chronic organic solvent
intoxication syndrome 11

There are several difficulties

connected to the diagnostic
procedure of this syndrome. There is
no specific test which confirms the
diagnosis. Several other diseases
may give the same kinds of
symptoms as this syndrome. Several
tests and examinations are needed to
evaluate these patients properly.
 The chronic organic solvent
intoxication syndrome 12

To develop this syndrome, a person

must have been exposed to organic
solvents regularly for many years.
The syndrome gives typical
symptoms like those described
under the heading "chronic
intoxication".
 The chronic organic solvent
intoxication syndrome 13

To diagnose this syndrome, signs of

disease in the nervous system must be
found by the examination of the brain
and/or the peripheral nerves.
Examinations used to diagnose the
syndrome are a neurological
examination, tests of the electrical
activity of the brain, computerized
tomography of the brain, examinations
of the spinal fluid, psychological tests
and tests of nerve conduction velocity
of nerves in arms and legs.
 Examination of seamen at
work in 1985 14

A part of the research project

consisted of an examination of
seamen at work in 1985. Captains,
mates, pump men and able seamen
from 20 randomly selected chemical
tankers were invited to join the study.
Mates and pump men were chosen as
they are known to be highly exposed
to chemicals on board. Able seamen
have a similar high exposure. As able
seamen tend to change jobs often,
only job leaders were examined.
 Examination of seamen at
work in 1985 15

Captains receive almost no chemical

exposure. They were invited to join
the study as they often have worked
as mates or able seamen before their
promotion to captain.
Only 13% of the invited seamen
refused to join the study.
 Examination of seamen at
work in 1985 16

85 seamen from chemical tankers

were examined. In addition to the
group of exposed seamen, a control
group was established. This group
consisted of seamen working on dry
cargo ships in 1985. These ships sailed
world-wide as did the chemical
tankers. The seamen were captains,
mates, cooks, stewards and able
seamen. As in the exposed group,
only 13% of he invited seamen in the
control group refused to join the
 The Examination 17

The seamen were examined at

Haukeland Hospital. The examination
was performed at least two weeks
after they had come home from sea.
They were all examined by the same
physician and using the same
procedure. If signs of disease were
found at the examination, this was
controlled by a second physician.
 The Examination 18

The examinations performed were:

a) An interview which covered work
at sea, previous diseases, drug
and alcohol consumption,
smoking and symptoms from the
nervous system.
b) An ordinary medical examination
and a neurological examination. A
neurological examination consists
of tests of co-ordination, reflexes,
movements and sensation of the
 The Examination 19

c) Blood tests.
d) Psychological tests of memo ry
and visual abstraction.
 The Examination 20

e) Tests of peripheral nerves in arms

and legs, e.g. tests of nerve
conduction velocity. The nerves
conduct electrical impulses from the
brain out into the body and then back.
With special equipment it is possible
to measure how fast electrical current
is conducted in the nerves. Nerves
with some kind of dysfunction have a
reduced capacity to conduct electrical
current.
 The Examination 21

f) A test of the electrical activity of

the brain. Electrodes were
fastened to different places on the
head using electrode paste. The
electrical activity of the brain was
registered by connecting the
electrodes to a machine. The
activity was registered while the
examined person was listening to
clicking sounds.
 Conclusions from the project 22

The examinations of seamen at work

show a correlation between
dysfunction of the brain and of the
peripheral nerves and organic solvent
exposure. Previous research regarding
effects of organic solvents have not
demonstrated similar correlation's this
clearly. The findings support the
theory that solvents lead to chronic
dysfunction of the nervous system.
 Conclusions from the project 23

The study of occurrence of disability

pension in seamen indicates a
connection between work with a high
organic solvent (hydrocarbon)
exposure and disability pensioning due
to diseases affecting the nervous
system. This supports the theory that
the organic solvents and similar
compounds are able to induce
disabling diseases in seamen.
 Conclusions from the project 24

On the whole, these results strongly

support the theory that a "chronic
organic solvent intoxication
syndrome" does in fact exist. This is
important both to exposed seamen
and to other persons who are exposed
to organic solvents during their work.
The consequences of these findings
must be that organic solvent exposure
of humans must be reduced to a
minimum, to prevent the development
of chronic damage of the nervous
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 25

The 85 seamen from chemical tankers

who were examined in the described
examination in 1985 were asked the
following question:
“What sort of action would you
suggest to reduce the chemical
exposure on the chemical tankers”?
The seamen used their own words,
and were allowed to give more than
one answer.
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 26

The answers may be summarized

like this:
We need more information about the
chemicals (36)
We need protective equipment which
can be used in tropical areas (32)
We need more practical and useful
protective equipment (22)
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 27

The answers may be summarized

like this:
We need more information about
the chemicals (36)
We need protective equipment
which can be used in tropical areas
(32)
We need more practical and useful
protective equipment (22)
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 28

The answers may be summarized

like this:
We need more information about the
chemicals (36)
We need protective equipment which
can be used in tropical areas (32)
We need more practical and useful
protective equipment (22)
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 29

We need technical systems which

prevent human exposure during
loading and unloading procedures 11
We need more time during loading
and unloading (12)
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 30

The answers must be judges as

practical and useful, seen from a
medical point of view. However, the
answers are mainly directed to the
ship owners.
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 31

The author agrees with these

statements from the seamen, but
would like to give some advice to the
seamen as well:

Information must be read and

learned.
Protective equipment must be
used.
 Improvement of the chemical
environment 32

The chronic
organic solvent
intoxication
syndrome must
be prevented!