Abstract

While volatile organic compounds (VOCs) impair various organs, their influence on hearing loss (HL) has not been extensively researched. We aimed to identify the association between VOCs and HL or high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL). We extracted data on age, sex, pure tone audiometry, hypertension, occupational noise exposure, and creatinine-corrected urine VOC metabolite concentrations from the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey. Among the VOC metabolites, N-acetyl-S-(benzyl)-L-cysteine (BMA, P = 0.004), N-acetyl-S-(phenyl)-l-cysteine (SPMA, P = 0.027), and N-acetyl-S-(3,4-dihydroxybutyl)-l-cysteine (DHBMA, P < 0.001) showed associations with HL. Additionally, HFHL exhibited significant associations with BMA (P = 0.005), 3- and 4-methylhippuric acid (3, 4 MHA, P = 0.049), mandelic acid (MA, P = 0.015), SPMA (P < 0.001), N-acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl)-l-cysteine (3-HPMA, P < 0.001), and DHBMA (P < 0.001). After controlling other factors, DHBMA were associated with HL (P = 0.021) and HFHL (P = 0.014) and exhibited a linear association with the mean hearing level (β = 0.054, P = 0.024) and high-frequency hearing level (β = 0.045, P = 0.037). Since 1,3-butadiene may act as an ototoxic material, early screening for workers exposed to 1,3-butadiene and reducing exposure to 1,3-butadiene in everyday life may be helpful to prevent further HL.

Details

Title
Higher exposure to 1,3-butadiene is associated with more severe hearing loss
Author
Han, Sang-Yoon 1 ; Lee, Sang-Yeon 2 ; Suh, Myung-Whan 2 ; Lee, Jun Ho 2 ; Park, Moo Kyun 2 

 Hanyang University, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.49606.3d) (ISNI:0000 0001 1364 9317) 
 Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.412484.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0302 820X); Sensory Organ Research Institute, Seoul National University, Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.31501.36) (ISNI:0000 0004 0470 5905) 
Pages
12899
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3064768938
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.