An epidemiological study on retinopathy due to carbon disulfide

Summary In order to clarify the influence of carbon disulfide exposure level on the progress of retinopathy, direct ophthalmoscopy and color fundus photography were performed on 338 randomly-selected workers of a viscose rayon staple plant.Retinal abnormalities characterized by microaneurysms were found in 89 of 289 workers exposed to carbon disulfide (30.8%) and in 2 of 49 control workers not exposed to carbon disulfide (4.1%). The prevalence of retinopathy among 124 high exposure group members was significantly higher than that among 127 low exposure group members. Results clearly showed that the prevalence of retinopathy increased with both increasing carbon disulfide exposure duration and increasing concentration.Finally, the onset and progress of retinal changes due to carbon disulfide are compared to those occuring with diabetes mellitus.