RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Until now,no effective screening tools have been available for evaluating the neurotoxicity of organic solvents and metals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of posturography as a screening tool for the chronic neurotoxicity of organic solvents. METHOD: 36 workers in 4 septic tank manufacturers,who were exposed to styrene over a period of 1 year (exposed group),and 15 hospital volunteer manual workers were examined by posturography.The subjects' physical,medical,and occupational characteristics were obtained by means of a physical examination and a questionnaire. We excluded from both groups those persons who had psychiatric problems, diabetes, neurologic symptoms, gait disturbance,or a history of stroke.The sway area of the exposed group was compared to that of the non-exposed group using bivariate and multiple regression analysis. We controlled a number of variables including age, alcohol consumption,smoking, weight, height, and body mass index. RESULT: The sway area of the exposed group was found to be higher than that of the non-exposed group after taking into consideration the effects of other characteristics by means of multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION: We concluded the posturography would be an effective tool for the screening of chronic neurotoxicity in workers exposed to styrene.