J Prev Med Public Health.  2008 Nov;41(6):397-406. 10.3961/jpmph.2008.41.6.397.

Usefulness of Color Vision Test for Early Detection of Neurological Damages by Neurotoxic Substances

• Lee EH
• Choi K
• Chae HJ
• Paek D

• KMID: 792595
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2008.41.6.397

Abstract

This paper reviews the published literature that is concerned with color vision impairment from industrial and environmental exposure to neurotoxic substances, and we evaluated whether testing for color vision impairment could be an affordable procedure for assessing these neurotoxic effects. In general, most cases of congenital color vision impairment are red-green, and blue-yellow impairment is extremely rare. However, most of the acquired color vision impairment that is related to age, alcohol or environmental factors is blue-yellow impairment. Therefore, many studies have been performed to identify this relationship between exposure to neurotoxic substances, such as organic solvents and heavy metals, and the prevalence of blueyellow color vision impairment. The test for color vision impairment is known to be very sensitive to the early signs of nervous system dysfunction and this can be useful for making the early diagnosis of neurotoxic effects from exposure to very low concentrations of toxic substances.

Keyword

Color vision impairment; Neurotoxic substances; Neurotoxic effects

MeSH Terms

*Color Perception Tests
Color Vision Defects/*chemically induced/diagnosis
Early Diagnosis
Hazardous Substances/*toxicity
Humans
Neurotoxicity Syndromes/*diagnosis/pathology
Solvents/adverse effects