Evaluation of Respiratory and Neurobehavioral Symptoms among Dezful Petrol Stations Employees Due to Exposure by Volatile Organic Compounds: Cross Sectional Study in 2016

Background and objective: Exposure to volatile organic compounds can cause acute and chronic effects, such as respiratory diseases and affect in nervous system. The aim of this study was evaluate the respiratory and neurobehavioral symptoms among Dezful petrol stations employees. Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 85 workers in 12 petrol stationswere studied in Dezful city of Iran in 2016. The respiratory symptoms of workers assessed with the evaluation of respiratory symptomsquestionnaire(according to the recommendation of the American Lung Association, with a slight modification). Also,the 16-question questionnaire was used in order to assess the neurobehavioral symptoms. Finally, data entered to spss.21 and analyzed by chi-squire and logistic regression tests at significant level of α = .05. Findings:Results showed that the mean age and working experience of the workers were 34.2 ± 8.5 and 6.92 ± 6.9 years, respectively. In assessing the rate of abnormal respiratory symptoms, it was found that approximately in less than 20% of workers all of these symptoms were always present. Also, 16.5% of the workers have stated the presence of cough as always and 57.6% as sometimes. Also, the abnormal feeling of fatigue and difficulty remembering things are among neurobehavioral symptoms expressed by the employees. Conclusion: Since the workers have expressed the presence of respiratory and neurobehavioral symptoms, therefore, the need to monitor and measure the exposure levels to examine the inhaled volumes and brain functions seems necessary.