Abstract

Subjective symptoms, counts of blood cells and liver function test were conducted on 198 male workers who were exposed to toluene in Kyungin area from September to November, 1986. According to level of urinary hippuric acid concentration, the total sample was classified into the high exposure group (concentration > or = 3g/l) and the low exposure group(concentration < 3g/l). The following findings were obtained by comparing the two group: 1) Contrary to the previous findings, the urinary hippuric acid concentration of toluene exposed workers showed bimodal distribution. It meant that the toluene exposed workers were mixed with the non-exposed or minimal exposed workers. 2) The high exposure group showed a lower level of leucocccytes counts (6,630+/-1,860/microliter) than the low exposure group (6,340+/-1,960/microliter). 3) The high exposure group showed a higher level of SGOT, SGPT and r-GTP than the low exposure group(P<0.05). 4) The high exposure group complained much more subjective symptoms (e.g. skin rash, loss of appetite, palpitation) than the low exposure group.