Introduction / Objectives:

Solvents are associated with numerous damages to the health, namely hearing loss. However, the list of elements in this family of chemical agents that has this capability in humans is not clearly defined. This review aims to describe which Solvents are associated with Hypoacusis and which particularities are involved.

Methodology:

It is a Scoping Review, initiated in april of 2019, in the databases "CINALH plus with full text, Medline with full text, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register, Nursing and Allied Health Collection: comprehensive, MedicLatina, Academic Search Ultimate, Science Direct, Web of Science, SCOPUS and RCAAP.

Content:

The ototoxic effect includes central auditory and vestibular alterations, due to mechanisms associated with oxidative stress. The related hearing loss is more noticeable at the higher frequencies level.

The ototoxic effect of these agents is best studied in animals, including several rodent species. Moreover, in most animal studies, the chemical agent is usually presented with high concentration and for a short time, a situation that is opposite to most occupational exposures.

It is believed that noise and solvents, in relation to hearing loss, present synergy; even at levels lower than those defended as tolerable maximums, by the appropriate institutions.

Discussion and Conclusions:

It is observed that the lack of methodological consistency in the studies found does not allow generalizing the results, making it impossible to produce evidence that irrefutably guides clinical practice.

Incidentally, there is also a different individual susceptibility and some of the studies have been performed on animals, some of which have very different metabolic catheteristics from humans. In some cases, the concentration and exposure time used in these investigations were also not equivalent to those in most jobs (they were shorter but more intense, in most cases).

As long as such conclusions are not published and accepted upon by the scientific community, it may be sensible to consider that the maximum permissible levels of noise and solvents are already at a level of risk, and therefore efforts should be made, at collective and individual protection measures, to minimize these exposures.

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