Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1442-1445
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Cacosmia and neurobehavioral dysfunction associated with occupational exposure to mixtures of organic solvents
CM Ryan, LA Morrow and M Hodgson
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA 15213.
This study examined the interrelationships among occupational exposure to
mixtures of organic solvents, neurobehavioral functioning, and complaints
of cacosmia. The latter was defined as nausea, headaches, and subjective
distress in individuals exposed to neutral environmental odors. The authors
administered a battery of cognitive tests to men with and without a history
of solvent exposure and found exposed workers to be impaired across a wide
range of cognitive domains. Multiple regression analyses of exposed workers
demonstrated a highly significant relationship between a history of
cacosmia and performance decrements on measures of learning and memory.
