Concentration of dopamine in plasma, activity of dopamine beta-hydroxylase in serum and urinary excretion of free catecholamines and vanillylmandelic acid in women chronically exposed to carbon disulphide.

The authors studied 140 women, selected at random, aged 22-55, divided into two groups. Group I (control) included 50 women, mean age 40.1 +/- 1.7 years. Group II included 90 women, mean age 39.7 +/- 2.1 years, chronically exposed to 15.6 - 21.84 mg/m3 of carbon disulphide from 0.5 to over 20 years. It was found that women chronically exposed to CS2 showed significantly lower levels of dopamine and lower activities of DBH (p < 0.001), significantly lower urinary excretion of adrenaline (p < 0.001), but insignificantly lower excretion of noradrenaline and vanillylmandelic acid.