Auditory system dysfunction in Brazilian gasoline station workers.

Objective

To examine the auditory system of Brazilian gasoline station workers using an extensive audiological test battery.

Design

This was a cross-sectional study. The audiological evaluation included a questionnaire, pure-tone audiometry, acoustic immittance tests, transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), auditory brainstem response (ABR) and P300 auditory-evoked potentials. Study sample: A total of 77 Brazilian gasoline station workers were evaluated, and their results were compared with those of 36 participants who were not exposed to chemicals or noise at work. The gasoline station employees worked in 18 different gas stations, and the noise area measurements from all gas stations revealed time-weighted averages below 85 dBA.

Results

Of the 77 gasoline station workers evaluated, 67.5% had audiometric results within the normal range, but 59.7% reported difficulties in communication in noisy places. Gasoline station workers showed significantly poorer results than non-exposed control participants in one or more conditions of each of the audiological tests used, except P300.

Conclusions

The results suggest that the gasoline station workers have both peripheral and central auditory dysfunctions that could be partly explained by their exposure to gasoline.