The functional state of the central nervous system in chemical stress

The psychosocial and physical factors, including chemical ones, which affect the human organism are considered by some authors to be stress factors which affect the functional state (FS) of the central nervous system (CNS). We calculated correlations among the clinical, psychological/psychometric, and quantitative electropsychological (QEEG) variables of the functional changes of the CNS in chemical stress. These data were based on occupational contact with lead as experienced by 402 workers, with styrene by 96, with shale-oil products by 252, with organic solvents by 77 workers, and a control group of 145 workers in different age groups. The QEEG data of 77 patients were analyzed to determine the chronic neurotoxic effects of industrial chemical substances by diagnosing the functional changes at the syndrome level. We concluded that occupational chemical factors impact the functional state of the CNS. During chemical stress -activity and total cerebral bioelectrical activity (BA) decreases. The use of psychometric/ psychological and QEEG methods makes it possible to diagnose the changes of the CNS as hypersthenic, hyposthenic, and organic psychosyndromes.