Reversible nerve lesions after accidental polychlorinated biphenyl exposure.

Abstract

(1985) 91-95. Several capacitors containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) exploded in a cardboard plant. During the accident, and in the clearing work, several workers were in probable contact with PCB and/or its degradation products. Nausea, intense perspiration, and headache were acute symptoms, which cleared quickly. The 15 men with the greatest exposure were studied neurophysiologically twice, namely, two and six months after the explosion. Motor conduction velocities (MCV) of the right median, ulnar, and peroneal nerves; sensory conduction velocity (SCV) of the right sural nerve; and distal SCVs of the right median and ulnar nerves were measured with skin electrodes. Thirty male workers with a similar age distribution served as referents. Two months after the explosion all SCVsand distal SCVswere slower in the exposed men, and still six months after the explosion the distal SCV of the ulnar nerve and the SCV of the sural nerve were slightly sloweramong the exposed. However, clear improvement occurred in the distal SCVs during the follow-up. As in many toxic distal axonopathies, the distal SCVs were reversibly impaired after an accidental exposure to PCB fumes. PCB seem to exhibit neurotoxic properties in humans.

Assessing the Health Effects of Potential Exposure to PCBs, Dioxins, and Furans from Electrical Transformer Fires: The Binghamton State Office Building Medical Surveillance Program

“…There also was little clinical evidence of exposure-related liver or eye diseases and of neurologic conditions. This finding agrees with the general belief that systemic disorders are unlikely in man in the absence of ~hloracne.~' Seppalainen et al 42 have recently reported similar results from an investigation of 15 men accidentally exposed to PCBs from a capacitor explosion in a Finnish cardboard plant. The highest serum PCB concentrations were measured 3 days after the explosion and were comparable in magnitude to our values; they decreased to baseline levels within 1-2 mo.…”

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

“…In these studies, the PCB exposure was very high and heating/explosion was sometimes mentioned, and thus, exposure to pyrolysis products such as PCDFs may have occurred. A sex difference for some effects on the nervous system was found in some of the studies (women seemed to be more sensitive than men) (7,19,352,356,367,370). Further, various neurological symptoms have been reported in adult victims of the Yu-Cheng and Yusho incidents and cognitive deficits in women were reported recently for one of these populations.…”

“…The 15 men with the greatest exposure were studied neurophysiologically 2 and 6 months after the explosion and the results were compared to 30 unexposed workers. A reversible, slight impairment of the peripheral nerves was noted, mainly in the distal portions of sensory nerves where the conduction velocity and the amplitude of the sensory action potentials were decreased (356).…”

Acúmulo de policloretos de bifenila na população do Grande São Paulo, Brasil

“…Trabalhadores expostos a concentrações elevadas de PCBs após fogo e/ou explosão de transformadores e de capacitores apresentaram moderada elevação das enzimas hepáticas, mitocondria pleomorfa, mitocondria gigante, aumento da densidade dos grânulos mitocôndri-cos, gotículas de gordura nas células hepáticas, retículo endoplasmático ligeiramente dilatado 55 , neuropatia periférica sensorial com diminuição da velocidade de condução nervosa 14 , parestesia cutânea 57 , câncer cutâneo (um caso) 54 e alterações da função respiratória do tipo obstrutivo 32 .…”