COHORT STUDY OF THE HYPERTENSIVE EFFECTS OF CARBON DISULFIDE IN VISCOSE RAYON WORKERS

Abstract

Records of blood pressure and body weight of CS₂ workers were analyzed in relation to the levels of CS₂ exposure at a Japanese rayon-producing fac-tory. A cohort of 46 CS₂ workers who had later been transferred to non-CS₂ jobs showed first a statistically significant rise, which was then followed by two consecutive episodes of statistically significant falls in systolic blood pressure. These episodes corresponded precisely to the initial increase in CS₂ concentration at workplaces due to the increased output of thicker threads, the subsequent decrease in concentration due to the improvement of the working environment and finally to the transfer of most of the members of the cohort to non-CS₂ jobs. Body weight also revealed statistically significant changes corresponding to the changes in CS₂ levels. Time-weighted average CS₂ con-centration of 329 air samples taken at the breathing zones of three spinners was 17.4 ppm in 1972. It is concluded that CS₂ causes mild and reversible hypertension and that the CS₂ concentrations of 15-20 ppm may not be com-pletely safe when the exposure of workers is continuous throughout their workdays.