Nicola Cherry

The effects of ethanol on blood toluene concentrations.

SummaryThe metabolism of toluene was found to be inhibited by a large dose of alcohol in seven volunteers exposed to 80 ppm of toluene under experimental conditions. When alcohol was taken during exposure, blood toluene concentrations were 42.5% greater on average than during exposure with no alcohol. This is probably due to competition for alcohol dehydrogenase which is required for the breakdown of both ethanol and toluene.In men exposed to toluene at work, it was found that blood toluene concentrations were lowest in those who drank regularly. These results suggest that continued alcohol intake increases the metabolism of toluene, presumably by inducing the microsomal oxidising enzyme system in the liver.

THE EFFECTS OF TOLUENE AND ALCOHOL ON PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE

Eight male subjects took part in four experimental sessions in an exposure chamber to assess the effects of toluene (80 p.p.m.) and alcohol (0.4 ml per kg body weight) individually and in combination on four measures of performance and also on mood. Alcohol caused a significant deterioration over the exposure session in performance on pursuit tracking and visual search tasks and also in mood. Toluene had no significant effect on any of the behavioural measures, but examination of mean scores for each treatment suggested a tendency for performance and mood to deteriorate more when alcohol and toluene were administered together than when alcohol was taken alone.

Physical demands of work and health complaints among women working late in pregnancy

Health complaints before, during and after pregnancy were collected from 2251 women in Montreal who had been in paid employment beyond the twenty-seventh week of their first or second pregnancy. Complaints of breathlessness, fatigue, back pain, varicose veins and haemorrhoids increased during pregnancy, the proportion of women reporting these symptoms being greatest in the third trimester. Complaints at this stage were found to be systematically related to job postures and other physical work demands, prolonged periods of standing, particularly with the back bent forward, twisting the trunk and lifting weights all being found troublesome by workers late in their pregnancy. Three months after delivery the level of health complaints had generally returned to that before pregnancy. This was so for all symptoms except varicose veins and haemorrhoids. No relation was found between trouble with haemorroids and the physical demands of work in pregnancy. Problems with varicose veins three months after delivery we...

Young people's perceptions of their vocational guidance needs: I. Priorities and pre-occupations

Abstract In spring 1981, 1,712 pupils in the third, fourth and fifth years of secondary education at 20 comprehensive schools in England completed a questionnaire about the priorities they gave to different aspects of vocational choice and preparation. Fifth-year pupils were followed up one year later, and perceived needs again recorded. Consistency between year-groups, and between fifth-year and follow-up, was high, suggesting that the perceived needs of even the third-year group were based on a realistic appraisal of the tasks they faced in entering employment. Systematic differences in ranked priority were found, however, with those who had left school giving much greater priority to work experience and less to discussions with family and teachers than those still at school. All ages reported considerable anxiety about finding work, with levels of rated anxiety on the other items being greatest amongst the third-year pupils.

Solvent sniffing in industry.

the non-skilled manual workforce are exposed to them in the course of their work. The problem of addiction to solvents at work is often alluded to by company medical officers and almost every occupational physician who has worked in a solvent using industry has anecdotal evidence which appears to lend support to the centention of Ethel Browning (1965) that, ’addiction to trichloroethylene is a relatively frequent occurrence.’ Hard evidence on the prevalence of sniffing in industry, however, seems to be non-existent. Case reports of deaths (Cragg & Castledore, 1970; Kleinfeld & Tabershaw, 1954; Northfield, 1981; Stahl et al., 1969) and of acute psychiatric manifestations (Braceland, 1942; Capurro & Capurro, 1979; Tarsh, 1979) brought about by exposure to solvents at work can be found in a wide range of journals. In some reports, sniffing is implicated, especially in those which may be called the ’sudden death syndrome’. In these cases, death typically occurs in a young solvent worker after some sudden exertion, such as running up a flight of stairs. The explanation which is most often

Young People's Perceptions of their Vocational Guidance Needs: Ii. Influences and Interventions

Abstract Questionnaire responses from 1,366 pupils at 20 schools in England were used to develop a scale tentatively interpreted as reflecting vocational development. This interpretation was evaluated by concurrent assessments from local careers officers and by its predictive value in the first months on the labour market. Influences on scores included reading ability, social and economic factors, and features of the school. Careers interventions were effective in increasing vocational awareness. Schools providing formal careers education in the fourth or fifth years had pupils whose scores suggested a gain of six months vocational awareness. The input of the Careers Service was also related to the scale, pupils at schools with more active careers officers appearing more advanced in their vocational development.