We described a case of a male worker, 62 years old, with a combined exposure to low noise levels (80-85 dB Leq,A) and organic solvents mixture for more than 30 years in the automobile industry as a painter. His ear canal has a diameter of more than 1.3 cm. and determine a peculiar pattern of hearing loss, similar to the noise induced one, but chiefly in the speech frequencies. According to experimental and human studies we speculate that in this patient the peculiar morphology of the audiogram, with the low or mean frequencies maximally affected, may been explained by a synergistic effect of solvents mixture in conjunction with noise exposure and a high ear canal volume.
Exposure to low levels of solvents and noise, ear canal volume and audiometric pattern
PIRA, Enrico;
2003-01-01
Abstract
We described a case of a male worker, 62 years old, with a combined exposure to low noise levels (80-85 dB Leq,A) and organic solvents mixture for more than 30 years in the automobile industry as a painter. His ear canal has a diameter of more than 1.3 cm. and determine a peculiar pattern of hearing loss, similar to the noise induced one, but chiefly in the speech frequencies. According to experimental and human studies we speculate that in this patient the peculiar morphology of the audiogram, with the low or mean frequencies maximally affected, may been explained by a synergistic effect of solvents mixture in conjunction with noise exposure and a high ear canal volume.
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