In June 1976, a study team representing four Universities and a research institution carried out a study of possible neurological effects of long-term exposure to airborne arsenic trioxide in a Western copper smelter. The study involved comparing active working men heavily exposed to arsenic in the work force with workers not so exposed. Its purpose was to determine whether nerve conduction velocity can be utilized as a biological indicator of the subtle health effects of chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic in a community setting. The double-blind electrophysiologic and clinical study was based on 111 volunteers recruited from a selected set of smelter workers with at least five years of high urinary arsenic levels (37 men) and five years of low urinary levels (33 men). The control population consisted of members of the same union who worked at an aluminum plant in the same city (13 men) as well as male municipal employees with no industrial exposure (28 men). The conclusions of the study are that: (1) chronic arsenic exposure in an industrial setting affects the peripheral nervous system, and (2) the neurologic parameters used in this study appear to be suitable for use in screening a community population for changes related to arsenical neuropathies.

Sponsored by Office of Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Project Officer Joseph Seifter." "EPA 560/6-77-018."