Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (pVEP) were studied in 39 ma
le rubber factory workers in the age range of 18-55 years and 20 contr
ol subjects (aged 18-46 years) not exposed to the rubber factory envir
onment. Results revealed that 20 (51%) rubber factory workers had abno
rmal latencies of wave P-1 (dominant component of pVEP) as per accepte
d criteria of 99% tolerance limit set for the control group (i.e. any
value above mean + 3 SD of control was considered abnormal). The secti
on-wise per cent distribution of abnormalities was vulcanization (83%)
, tubing (75%), calendering (60%), loading (38%) and mixing (14%). Thi
s study provides electrophysiological evidence that rubber factory env
ironments affect the conduction processes in optical pathways from the
ir origin in the retina to striate cortex. However, this study has its
limitations in not identifying the specific chemical(s) causing these
changes in VEF.