SOLVENT EXPOSURE AND RATINGS OF WELL-BEING - DOSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS AND CONSISTENCY OF DATA

Ratings on analog scales for dimensions of wellbeing provide informati on about the acute state of well-being during solvent exposure. In a s tudy of volunteers and workers exposed to solvents, tension, tiredness , complaints, and annoyance were rated on seven-point scales. Dose-eff ect relationships were analyzed for several scenarios; data were colle cted in diaries during work hours. In two studies, 40 volunteers in an exposure laboratory were exposed to ethanol by inhalation at levels b etween 80 and 1900 parts per million (ppm). In two other studies, 32 v olunteers were exposed to acetone and ethyl acetate in single exposure s (1000 and 500 ppm, respectively) and combined exposures (500 ppm ace tone + 200 ppm ethyl acetate). A field study of 8 exposed workers and 8 nonexposed controls involved exposures of up to 2100 ppm acetone. Do se-effect relationships were shown for ratings of annoyance by correla tions of 0.36 (ethanol) and 0.58 (acetone). Similar coefficients were found for ratings of complaints. The dimensions tension and tiredness showed no stable relationship with exposure. The consistency of rating s was assessed by means of correlations between the ratings given duri ng periods of nearly equal exposures. Ratings of annoyance for the dif ferent studies between the periods of nearly equal exposure showed ave rage correlations from 0.68 to 0.84. For the ratings of complaints, th e coefficients were 0.53 to 0.81. The coefficients for tension had sim ilar stabilities; those for tiredness were lower. (C) 1997 Academic Pr ess.