Cytological changes and conjunctival hyperemia in relation to sensory eye irritation |
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Authors: | Anne Hempel-Jørgensen Søren K Kjærgaard Lars Mølhave |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Aarhus, Ole Worms Allé, Building 180, DK-8000 Aarhus-C, Denmark Tel.: +45-8942-2908; Fax: +45-8942-2970 e-mail: ahj@mil.aau.dk, DK |
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Abstract: | In general, irritation is a physiological response to a chemical or physical stimulus involving objective changes (e.g.,
local redness and edema) and subjective sensations (e.g., pruritus and pain). The perception of an irritating stimulus in
the eyes and the upper airways is called sensory irritation. Sensory irritation is a prevalent symptom in relation to complaints
about indoor air quality. The intensity of perceived sensory irritation in humans has mainly been evaluated using psychophysical
methods. However, perceived sensory irritation is dependent on the subject expressing the symptoms; that is, it is a subjective
measure. This is a problem in assessment of irritation effects from air pollution or other factors, since the expression of
the irritation symptoms may be biased by, for example, interaction with other people and odors. The subjectivity of the measures
is an important complication in several studies dealing with problems regarding indoor air quality. The bias problems make
it important to complement the psychophysical measurements of sensory irritation with objective assessments of irritation.
In addition, only little is known about the association between sensory irritation and possible physiological/pathological
changes in the mucosal membranes in relation to studies of indoor air. Two studies (study 1 and study 2) were conducted to
investigate changes in conjunctival hyperemia and conjunctival fluid cytology for subjects exposed to volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) in their eyes only. Eight subjects participated in study 1. Each subject was exposed to three different mixtures of
VOCs. A total of 16 subjects participated in study 2. Half of the subjects were exposed to 1-octene and the other half, to
n-butanol. In both studies, photographs of bulbar conjunctiva were taken and conjunctival fluid was sampled before and after
exposure. Moreover, the perceived irritation intensities were registered continuously during exposure. Overall, perceived
irritation intensity and conjunctival hyperemia increased with increasing exposure concentrations, whereas cytological changes
in the conjunctival fluid samples did not seem to be related to exposure concentration, perceived irritation, or changes in
conjunctival hyperemia.
Received: 4 April 1997 / Accepted: 25 September 1997 |
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Keywords: | Volatile organic compounds Sensory eye irritation Conjunctival hyperemia Conjunctival fluid cytology |
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