Video display terminal use and reported health symptoms among Massachusetts clerical workers.

Few well-controlled studies have assessed the extent and magnitude of adverse health conditions reported by video display terminal (VDT) operators. To evaluate the association between typical, daily VDT use and the prevalence of adverse conditions related to vision, musculoskeletal conditions, headaches, and colds or sore throats, we conducted a cross-sectional, epidemiologic study of 1,545 Massachusetts clerical workers. The study results indicated an increased prevalence of adverse conditions pertaining to vision, musculoskeletal discomfort, and headaches among clerical workers who used VDTs.

Accelerated loss of FEV- in polyurethane production workers: a four-year prospective study.

A four-year longitudinal study of ventilatory function in polyurethane-foam production workers exposed to toluene diisocyanate (TDI) revealed a dose-response relationship between average exposure to TDI and change in forced expiratory volume per second (FEV-1). Workers with mean exposure in excess of 0.0035 ppm showed a greater rate of decline of FEV-1 over the four-year period than that expected from aging.

Benzene exposure in the rubber coating industry--a follow-up.

This paper is a follow-up on thirty-eight workers exposed from 1 to 24 years to average benzene concentrations generally between 5 and 50 ppm, but as high as 90 (peak of 140) in the case of one worker. One individual was diagnosed as suffering from mild benzene poisoning and a small number of workers in the group had blood changes considered abnormal, but blood dyscrasia or leukemia has not developed in 13 years after benzene use was terminated in 1964. The population studied was small, but the data, nevertheless, would appear to support the former ACGIH TLV of 25 ppm.

Chronic pulmonary function loss from exposure to toluene diisocyanate.

ABSTRACT In 1972 a total of 112 workers exposed to toluene diisocyanate (TDI) were examined for acute pulmonary function changes during a work shift on the first day of the working week. A dose-response relationship was demonstrated for the acute effects of TDI in this population. The cohort was restudied in 1974 to determine whether there was excessive loss of pulmonary function, and if so, whether there was an exposure level below which this did not occur.