الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 171 |  |  |
| | | from | 171 | | |
Abstract
This work was conducted in a fluorescent lamp factory(Menoufiyagovernorate) to study mercury exposure disorders which may ariseamong workers in that industry.
This study included an exposed group of fluorescent lamp workers(138)who accepted to participate in the study and a control non exposed group(151) from the worker’s relatives. Both groups were matched for age, sex,residence, marital status, income and educational level.
The exposed group and controls were interviewed using a predesignedquestionnaire about neurological, respiratory and auditory manifestations.
Also, they wereexamined generally and locally for nervous system,chest and ears. Neurobehavioral test batteries spirometricmeasurements as well as audiometry were carried out for both exposed group and unexposed aiming to assess neurobehavioral disorders, pulmonary functions and hearingthresholds; respectively.
Mercury levels in the factory were measured (using mercury vapour analyzer ELTWI-”MS” from the respiratory zone of the workers)
and assessment of noise at the level of workers ears (using sound level
meter).
The following results were obtained:
The environmental measurements of the exposed group were
higherthan permissible exposure limits (PEL) for mercury air concentration, but noise levels were lower than the PEL.
Exposure to mercury in the studied fluorescent lamp factory workers was associated with higher prevalence of reported clinical manifestations including general, local, neurological, respiratory and auditory manifestations than unexposed.
Urinary mercury levels were significantly higher in exposed than unexposed groups.
The prevalence of chest symptoms e.g. cough expectoration,wheeze, dyspnea, rhinitis and asthma were significantly higher among exposed groupthan unexposed. Regarding auditory manifestations, the exposed workersexperienced a significant higher prevalence of hearing impairment andtinnitus than controls.
Also, manifestations related to mercury toxicity like (tremors, teeth loss, bleeding gums, diarrhea, musculoskeletal disorders and personality changes) were significantly higher in exposed than unexposed groups.
Concerning the mean values of spirometric measurements the FVC%,FEV1% and FEV1/FVC% were significantly lower among exposedgroup than controls.
Among exposed workers, a significant positive correlation was
found between urinary mercury level in one side and both spirometricmeasurements and hearing acuity. Also, a significant negative correlation between urinary mercury leveland neurobehavioral performance was observed.