Assessment of noise measurements made with a continuous monitoring in time.

The World Health Organization has stated that hearing loss is one of the top 10 health problems worldwide and that noise-induced hearing loss is the leading occupational disease. This work evaluated the noise exposure levels of several job categories for 24-h periods over 7 days to determine the contribution of each microenvironment to total noise exposure. The noise exposure levels of 47 individuals were continuously measured using personal noise dosimeters in metropolitan Seoul, Korea. Participants ranged in age from 20 to 50 yr and represented eight occupational groups. Participants were asked to attach the noise dosimeters and complete a time-activity diary 24 h a day for 7 days. The average Leq 24 h,w among these individuals was 74 dBA, which ranged from 64 to 96 dBA. The average Leq 24 h,w was highest for Korean traditional music apprentices, followed by heavy equipment operators, firefighters, service workers, office workers, industrial hygienists, graduate and undergraduate students, and housewives (89, 77, 76, 76, 75, 71, 71, and 71 dBA, respectively, p < 0.001). 38 (80.9%) were exposed to noise levels greater than 70 dBA, which corresponds to the World Health Organization's exposure limit.

Brain MRI findings of carbon disulfide poisoning.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the findings of brain MRI in patients with carbon disulfide poisoning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one patients who had suffered carbon disulfide poisoning [male:female=87:4; age, 32-74 (mean 53.3) years] were included in this study. To determine the extent of white matter hyperintensity (Grade 0-V) and lacunar infarction, T2-weighted MR imaging of the brain was performed. RESULTS: T2-weighted images depicted white matter hyperintensity in 70 patients (76.9%) and lacunar infarcts in 27 (29.7%). CONCLUSION: In these patients, the prevalent findings at T2-weighted MR imaging of the brain were white matter hyperintensity and lacunar infarcts. Disturbance of the cardiovascular system by carbon disulfide might account for these results.

Variation of systolic blood pressure in rats exposed to cadmium and nickel.

This research was intended to verify separate and combined effects of cadmium and nickel on blood pressure in rats. After cadmium chloride (CdCl(2)) and nickel chloride (NiCl(2)) were administered individually and combined by intraperitoneal injection to rats daily for a week, systolic blood pressure of the tails were measured at 1, 5, 10, 20, and 30 days after administration. Each substance was injected into rats with 0.1 mg/kg x bw and 1.0 mg/kg x bw concentrations. After 0.1 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) was injected, statistically significant differences from the control group (only saline) were found at 1, 5, and 10 days. After 0.1 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) was injected, no statistically significant differences from the control group were found. After 0.1 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) and 0.1 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) were injected combined simultaneously, statistically significant differences from the control group were found at 1, 5, and 10 days, compared with the 0.1 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) group after 5 days and the 0.1 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) group after 5 and 10 days. After 1.0 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) was injected, statistically significant differences from the control group were found at 1, 5, 10, and 20 days. After 1.0 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) was injected, statistically significant differences from the control group were found at 1 and 5 days. After 1.0 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) and 1.0 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) were injected combined, statistically significant differences were found at 1, 5, 10, 20, and 30 days, compared with 1.0 mg/kg x bw CdCl(2) at 10, 20, and 30 days and 1.0 mg/kg x bw NiCl(2) at 5, 10, 20, and 30 days. It was found that the effect of CdCl(2) on blood pressure was much more than that of NiCl(2) and the combination of CdCl(2) and NiCl(2) in high concentration delayed recovery of blood pressure.