Central auditory damage induced by solvent exposure.

Different studies have demonstrated that solvents may induce auditory damage. It has been suggested that part of this damage may be localised in central auditory pathways. The present study aimed to investigate possible auditory processing disorders related to solvent exposure. Thirty solvent-exposed workers and 30 gender-, age- and educational level-matched control subjects were selected to participate in the study. To select participants, a questionnaire, otoscopy, pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry were carried out. Filtered speech (FS), random gap detection (RGD) and hearing-in-noise tests (HINT) were conducted in the selected participants. Both groups of workers presented as a mean normal hearing thresholds. However, significant differences between groups were observed for RGD, FS and HINT. It is concluded that a possible auditory processing disorder may be related to solvent exposure.