Industrial solvents and psychological effects.

Organic solvents are widely used in industries for cleaning, degreasing, and other processes. The high dose neurotoxicity of occupational solvents is evident, and the existence of residual effects following lower dose exposure remains a focus of interest 30 years after initial reports of behavioral changes in painters from the Scandinavian literature. This article reviews recent studies on occupational solvent exposure and neuropsychological outcomes. The methodologic difficulties facing studies and the role of neuroimaging in solvent neurotoxicity investigations are examined. Existing studies consistently demonstrate association between exposure and neurobehavioral outcomes, but the specificity of the findings is less impressive. Threshold levels are uncertain. A safe and achievable threshold level seems possible from the current literature; unfortunately, such exposure limits have not yet been established by current studies. Several frequently encountered chemicals are discussed.