Citation

Stollery BT, Flindt ML. Scand. J. Work Environ. Health 1988; 14(1): 45-48.

Affiliation

Age and Cognitive Performance Research Centre, University of Manchester, England.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Finland Institute of Occupational Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3353696

Abstract

A retrospective study on a small group of female workers accidentally intoxicated by organic solvents (toluene and aliphatic hydrocarbons) evaluated complaints of residual memory impairment. Memory testing was first performed two months after the intoxication with a follow-up six months later to assess recovery. The workers showed normal patterns of performance on tests of learning and short-term and longer-term memory, but marked difficulties were observed when attention had to be allocated between two resource-competing tasks. As there was no evidence of recovery by the follow-up session, the results indicate that solvent intoxication can cause neuropsychological sequelae lasting for over eight months.

Language: en