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Thirty two males and 39 females aged 31-50 were exposed for 7 h to one of the three following conditions: (1) Clean air, (2) constant exposure to 100 ppm toluene, or (3) a varying exposure with the same time-weighted average, but with peaks of 300 ppm every 30 min. During exposure the subjects exercised in three 15-min periods with a load of 50 to 100 W. Exposure to toluene caused significant (P less than 0.05) complaints about poor air quality, altered temperature and noise perception, increased irritation in the nose and the lower airways, feeling of intoxication, and there were tendencies (P less than 0.1) towards irritation in the throat, headache and dizziness. In the four performance tests there was a tendency towards a lower score in a vigilance test while no effect of toluene exposure was seen in a peg board test, a five choice serial reaction test, or a colour test, indicating only minimal if any effect on the psychomotor or visual performance. There was no difference in the acute effects caused by the exposure containing peak concentrations and by the constant exposure.

The use of a photoionisationdetector (PID) for measurement of alveolar concentrations of gases and vapours was evaluated during a human exposure experiment with toluene. Two other methods, the standard gaspipette method and the gasbag /charcoal method, was tested for comparison. The best method appeared to be the PID-method. The major disadvantage in using this instrument was the missing selectivity towards individual compounds in a mixed atmosphere. In all other respects, the method is just as good as or better than the standard gaspipette method and the gasbag method. Results from 40 measurements with the three methods on 16 persons were examined statistically, and the average toluene absorption at 100 ppm exposure levels was estimated to be 1.6 mg/min.

The acute effects of toluene were studied in 43 male printers and 43 control subjects matched according to sex, age, educational level, and smoking habits. The mean age of the subjects was 36 (range 29-50) years. The printers had been exposed to solvents for 9 to 25 years during employment at flexo and rotogravure printing plants, while the controls had no history of solvent exposure. Each subject was exposed once in a climate chamber to either 100 ppm of toluene or clean air for 6.5 h preceded by a 1-h acclimatization period. The effects of toluene were measured from subjective votes with linear analogue rating scales on 16 items, and on the performance of 10 different tests measuring psychomotor skills, perceptual skills, and vigilance. Exposure to 100 ppm of toluene compared with exposure to clean air caused discomfort with complaints of low air quality, strong odor, fatigue, sleepiness, a feeling of intoxication, and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Furthermore, the subjects exposed to toluene showed decreased manual dexterity, decreased color discrimination, and decreased accuracy in visual perception. There was no significant difference in the effects of toluene on printers compared to those of toluene on controls, but tendencies toward a greater sensitivity were seen for the printers in two tests.

Under controlled conditions in an environmental chamber 16 healthy young volunteers were exposed to combinations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) (2.6 or 13 mg/m3) and inert plastic dust (2 or 10 mg/m3) or of SO2 (13 mg/m3) and dust (10 mg/m3) coated with vanadium. During periods of clean air and during exposures of 5-h duration nasal mucus flow rate, nasal airflow resistance, forced vital capacity, and subjective discomfort were measured. Reductions in nasal mucus flow rate, forced expiratory flow (FEF25-75%), and discomfort were related principally to the SO2 concentration. The combined effects of SO2 and dust were, at the most, additive, and there was no indication of potentiation effects. No effect could be attributed to the coating of the dust with vanadium.

The study population comprised 52 male printers and 52 controls. Each person was interviewed about job history, general health, and work-related symptoms. Symptoms from eyes and airways, neurological symptoms, and general symptoms were recorded. A lung function test and a measurement of the sense of smell were also carried out. The printers had significantly more eye, airway, and neurological symptoms than the controls; the main complaints being irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and a reduced sense of taste. The neurological symptoms were disorders of vision, vertigo, feeling of intoxication, and headache. Furthermore, abdominal pain and flatulence occurred more often among the printers. The symptoms showed no relation to age or job seniority, but neurological and general symptoms were related to shift work. No difference in lung function was found between the two groups. The printers had a slightly lower threshold of smell than the controls. Although the total load due to organic solvents and dust in the air was far below legal limits, the number of magnitude of symptoms experienced by the printers exceeded what is supposed when norms for workroom exposure are set. It is suggested that either the irritative effects of solvents are underestimated or the assumption of additive effects when great numbers of solvents are found does not hold true. A reduction of the number of solvents by eliminating the most toxic solvents or by using dyes without solvents is suggested.

The nasal mucus flow, lung function, subjective response, and psychometric performance of 16 young healthy subjects was studied during 6-h exposures to clean air and to 10, 40 or 100 ppm of toluene under controlled conditions. The toluene exposures did not affect nasal mucus flow or lung function. At 100 ppm irritation was experienced in the eyes and in the nose. There was a significant deterioration in the perceived air quality and a significant increased odor level during all exposures to toluene. The test battery investigated visual perception, vigilance, psychomotor functions, and higher cortical functions and comprised five-choice, rotary pursuit, screw-plate, Landolt's rings, Bourdon Wiersma, multiplication, sentence comprehension, and word memory tests. In these eight tests measuring 20 parameters, no statistically significant effects of the toluene exposure occurred. For three tests (multiplication errors, Landolt's rings, and the screw plate test) there was a borderline significance (0.05% less than p less than 0.10%). The subjects felt that the tests were more difficult and strenuous during the 100-ppm exposure, for which headache, dizziness, and feeling of intoxication were significantly more often reported. The exposures to 10 and 40 ppm did not result in any adverse effects.