NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DEFICIT AMONG ELDERLY WORKERS IN ALUMINUM PRODUCTION

A cross-sectional study was conducted at a Norwegian primary aluminum plant. All workers aged 61-66 years were offered early retirement bene fits. Among the workers, 47 met the study criteria and 38 (81%), compr ising 14 potroom workers, 8 foundry workers, and 16 controls, voluntee red to participate. They were tested with a neuropsychological test ba ttery. Workers in potrooms with Soderberg electrolytic cells were foun d to show signs of impairment of the nervous system. A test for tremor discriminated significantly between the potroom group and the control s. There was a suggestion of increased risk of impaired visuospatial o rganization and a tendency to a decline in psychomotor tempo in the po troom workers. We suggest that the above findings may be related to lo ng-term occupational exposure in the potroom, and further to chronic l ow-dose exposure to aluminum. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.