The Assessment of Acquired Dyschromatopsia among Organic-Solvents Exposed Workers

Kang, Mi Jung; Kang, Su Hee; Suh, Suk Kwon; Shin, Dong Hoon; Lee, Jong Young

Abstract

We investigated the occurrence of color vision loss in 70 organic solvent mixtures exposed workers and in 47 controls. Color Vision was assessed with a color arrangement test designed to identify the defective color sense, the Han Double 15-Hue Test. The results of the test were no significant difference between exposed workers and controls in the proportion of subjects who committed one or two errors. Quantitative analysis, using color confusion index(CCI), showed no signifiant difference between exposed workers and controls. A significant linear correlation was present between age and CCI in both exposed workers(CCi=0.0056age + 0.94; r=0.23; p<0.05) and controls(CCI=0.0066age + 0.86; r=0.33; p<0.05). Qualitative analysis of the patterns on the hue circle showed that the prevalence of acquired dyschromatopsia was 21% in both and no significant difference. Multiple regression analyses showed that age was significantly related to color vision loss. These results did not provide evidence of a relationship between organic solvents exposure and incidence of color vision loss. In field studies for monitor the people at risk of the acquired color vision loss involving low-dose organic solvents exposed workers, both quantitative and qualitative information should be considered.