LIVER-DAMAGE IN PHARMACEUTICAL-INDUSTRY WORKERS

A group of workers who were employed at a pharmaceutical manufacturing company and who participated in the entire production cycle were stud ied. Numerous substances, including iodo-chloro-oxyquinoline, erythrom ycin, disinfectants, small amounts of cortisones, and preserving agent s (prevan and parabenzoates), were used in the manufacturing processes . A control group comprised individuals who were not exposed to hepato toxic substances. This investigation was designed to determine the ris k of hepatotoxicity in the pharmaceutical industry, and a protocol was used that allowed for ease of screening. In the presence of a physici an, all subjects completed a clinical history questionnaire. They all underwent a general clinical examination, and specific blood chemistry tests were performed. Certain liver indices that were correlated with cytotoxicity were significantly higher in the pharmaceutical workers than among the controls. The findings confirmed that there was a probl em of hepatic involvement among workers in this sector, indicating tha t the clinical-biohumoral screening protocol used in this study was va lid for identifying subjects at risk of hepatotoxicity.