A HEALTH SURVEY OF WORKERS IN THE PENTACHLOROPHENOL SECTION OF A CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING PLANT

During 1968 to 1985, 109 workers who had been engaged in the productio n of pentachlorophenol, using non-gamma isomers of hexachloroclohexane (BHC) as the raw material, were surveyed. Endemic chloracne among the m had been noted since 1974. The prevalence of chloracne was 73.4% (80 /109) in total and 95.2% (20/21) in a trichlorobenzene (TCB) tank area where dioxin and dibenzofurans levels were thousands of ppm. To our k nowledge, PCDDs and PCDFs have not previously been reported from therm al decomposition of BHC. Urinary porphyrins were significantly higher among exposed workers than among the controls but there was no signifi cant difference between the workers with chloracne and those without. The conduction velocities of the median motor nerves were much slower among the workers in the TCB tank area where the highest PCDDs contami nation appeared. The mortality study cohort was relatively young. Base d on the three deaths observed during the follow-up, no association co uld be drawn. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.