An Evaluation of the Effects of Chronic Mercury Exposures on EMG and Psychomotor Functions.

摘要

The report is a cross-sectional study involving both neurological and psychomotor skill assessments of 142industrial workers from four different plants. None of the workers reported being clinically ill from mercury at the time of the study. Seventy seven of the workers were routinely exposed to inorganic mercury vapor in the course of their jobs. The primary health status indicators employed in the study were:forearm tremor,surface electromyography and discrete positioning eye-hand coordination. Psychomotor tests and clinical neurological examinations were included in the study. The statistical findings of the study are used as the basis for a recommendation that specific quantitative neurological and psychomotor tests,such as those described in the study,be used in industrial medical departments to routinely evaluate the health of workers exposed to inorganic mercury.