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Neurobehavioral performance in volunteers after inhalation of white spirits with high and low aromatic content

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Abstract

The content of aromatic hydrocarbons in solvent mixtures, such as white spirits (WS), has been assumed a major contributor to the neurotoxic effects of these compounds. Hence, dearomatized WS have been introduced to the market rapidly in the last decade. Studies investigating other aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene) and animal models have supported the aforementioned assumption, but the current study is the first one to compare acute neurobehavioral effects of exposure to aromatic and dearomatized WS (aWS, daWS) content in human volunteers at current occupational exposure limit values. In a pseudo-randomized crossover design, six female and six male healthy volunteers were exposed to aWS and daWS at two concentrations (100 and 300 mg/m3) and to clean air for 4 h at rest. During each of the five exposure conditions, volunteers performed five neurobehavioral tasks that were selected following a multidisciplinary approach that accounted for findings from the cognitive neurosciences and mechanisms of solvent toxicity. Two of the tasks indicated performance changes during aromatic WS exposure, the working memory (WM) and the response shifting task, but both effects are difficult to interpret due to low mean accuracy in the WM task and due to a lack of dose–response relationship in the response shifting task. Healthy human volunteers showed weak and inconsistent neurobehavioral impairment after 4-h exposures to 100 and 300 mg/m3 aromatic or dearomatized WS. Our multidisciplinary approach of selecting neurobehavioral test methods may guide the test selection strategies in future studies.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Mr Birger Lind for skillful technical assistance and to Dr. Bengt Sjögren for medical support during the study. The study was performed at the Unit of Work Environment Toxicology (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden) in collaboration with the Unit for Neurotoxicology and Chemosensation (Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Work Environment Toxicology, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden

    S. A. Juran, G. Johanson & L. Ernstgård

  2. Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Neurotoxicology and Chemosensation, Ardeystr. 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany

    S. A. Juran & C. van Thriel

  3. Swedish Work Environment Authority, Toxicological Risk Assessment, Box 210, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden

    A. Iregren

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  1. S. A. Juran
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  2. G. Johanson
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  5. C. van Thriel
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Correspondence to S. A. Juran.

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Juran, S.A., Johanson, G., Ernstgård, L. et al. Neurobehavioral performance in volunteers after inhalation of white spirits with high and low aromatic content. Arch Toxicol 88, 1127–1140 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-014-1236-4

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