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- Title
Color-space distortions following long-term occupational exposure to mercury vapor.
- Authors
Feitosa-Santana, Claudia; Bimler, David L.; Paramei, Galina V.; Oiwa, Nestor N.; Barboni, Mirella T. S.; Costa, Marcelo F.; Silveira, Luiz C. L.; Ventura, Dora F.
- Abstract
Color vision was examined in subjects with long-term occupational exposure to mercury (Hg) vapor. The color vision impairment was assessed by employing a quantitative measure of distortion of individual and group perceptual color spaces. Hg subjects ( n = 18; 42.1 ± 6.5 years old; exposure time = 10.4 ± 5.0 years; time away from the exposure source = 6.8 ± 4.6 years) and controls ( n = 18; 46.1 ± 8.4 years old) were examined using two arrangement tests, D-15 and D-15d, in the traditional way, and also in a triadic procedure. From each subject’s ‘odd-one-out’ choices, matrices of inter-cap subjective dissimilarities were derived and processed by non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS). D-15d results differed significantly between the Hg-group and the control group ( p < 0.05), with the impairment predominantly along the tritan axis. 2D perceptual color spaces, individual and group, were reconstructed, with the dimensions interpreted as the red-green (RG) and the blue-yellow (BY) systems. When color configurations from the Hg-group were compared to those of the controls, they presented more fluctuations along both chromatic dimensions, indicating a statistically significant difference along the BY axis. In conclusion, the present findings confirm that color vision impairments persist in subjects that have received long-term occupational exposure to Hg-vapor although, at the time of testing, they were presenting mean urinary concentration within the normal range for non-exposed individuals. Considering the advantages of the triadic procedure in clinical evaluation of acquired color vision deficiencies, further studies should attempt to verify and/or improve its efficacy.
- Subjects
MERCURY vapor; VISUAL perception; PSYCHOMETRICS; COLOR vision; HYPERSPACE
- Publication
Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, 2010, Vol 30, Issue 5, p724
- ISSN
0275-5408
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1475-1313.2010.00764.x