Health conditions were evaluated in 80 electrical workers exposed for many years to
polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixtures with a 42% mean
chlorine content, who had blood PCB concentrations from 41 to 1319 micrograms/kg. The clinical study was based on personal history data, physical examination, and laboratory tests (red cell and leukocyte count; determination of haemoglobin, packed cell volume,
bilirubin,
serum protein electrophoretic fractions,
pseudocholinesterase, AST, ALT, GGT, and OCT). Fifteen workers were found to have
skin diseases--
chloracne (4),
folliculitis (4), oil
dermatitis (1), juvenile
acne (1), and
dermatitis due to irritative or allergic agents (5). Sixteen workers showed more or less pronounced hepatic involvement, consisting most often of
hepatomegaly with an increase in serum GGT, AST, ALT, and OCT values. In two workers
bleeding cavernous haemangiomas were discovered, in one case associated with chronic myelocytic leukaemia. All the workers with
chloracne were employed on electric capacitor impregnation with
PCBs, and no definite association was found between
chloracne and blood PCB concentrations. Conversely, a significant positive association was found between the abnormal liver findings and blood PCB concentrations, particularly trichlorobiphenyl blood concentrations. The abnormal hepatic findings observed are similar to those reported in experimental animals given
PCBs, and in some workers such findings should probably be considered as clinical signs of hepatic microsomal enzyme induction.