Effects Effects of exposure to mixtures of organic solvents on central auditory processing

AbstractIntroduction: Solvents are most commonly inhaled in their volatized form and absorbed through the respiratory tract. Several studies have reported central auditory damage caused by exposure to solvents. By considering the possible neurotoxicity of exposure to the solvents, central auditory processing may affect in peopole subjected to these solvents. This could undesirably affect the peopole function in routine hearing condition.This study was aimed to evaluate central auditory processing  in people exposed to organic solvents.Materials and Methods: This cross- sectional study was conducted on 62 subjects exposed to solvent and 93 subjects without exposure was employed in a car factory. All subjects had normal hearing thresholds and tympanogram and acoustic reflex and acoustic reflex decay. After running test, the percentage of correct responses obtained and analyzed by using the non-parametric Mann-Witney U test.Results: No differences in in the left ear and right ear dichotic digits test were found between the exposed and non-exposed to solvents groups, but statistically significant differences were found between the two groups for total score.Conclusion: performance of the group of workers exposed to solvents was poorer than that of the non-exposed subjects which indicate difficulties in their binaural integration aspect.Keywords: Organic solvents, Exposure, Central auditory processing, Dichotic digits test.