Background:
At many workplaces chemical substances are used which, at certain doses, might
have neurotoxic effects on the central and peripheral human nervous system.
Behaviourally, such effects can be assessed by neuropsychological procedures.
Occupational exposure limits aim at the protection of workers and contribute
to the enhancement of performance, health and competitiveness. Our neurobehavioural
research provides scientific evidence for occupational exposure limit setting
by conducting epidemiologic studies and aggregating existing studies in meta-analyses.
Research questions:
(a) How can these complex effects be precisely multidimensionally assessed
by behavioural, perceptual, and physiological outcome measures?
(b) Which parameters of the exposure (air- and bio-monitoring) are appropriate
for deriving potential dose-effect relationships?
(c) How can - by means of complex statistical modelling - specific effects of
occupationally used chemicals be separated from unspecific effects of moderating
factors (confounding)?
(d) Is it possible to identify specific brain areas vulnerable to chemical exposures
by combining the knowledge on neurotoxic mechanisms with neuroscientific models
of cognitive functions?
Recent research:
The project 'neurotoxicity of aluminium' is a cooperation with collaborators
from industry, the Employer's Liability Insurance Association and occupational
health institutes working together on two longitudinal epidemiological studies
on neurotoxic effects of occupational exposure to aluminium. Hitherto existing
results suggest no reduction of cognitive performance if the general limit values
for airborne particles (1.5 mg/m³ for respirable dusts or 4 mg/m³
for inhalable dust) were adhered to. More detailed results of these studies
were already published (references).
In the project 'meta-analyses in behavioural neurotoxicity' summaries of potential neurotoxic effects of (a) solvent mixtures and (b) aluminium were generated at present. Accordingly, long-term occupational exposure to organic solvents seems to be associated with attentional deficits. Due to insufficient indication in the original articles, detailed dose-response relationships could not be calculated. The summary of studies on neurotoxic effects of aluminium could not prove substantial impairments. This might be attributed to inappropriate test procedures for early signs of deterioration due to aluminium.