Occupational exposure to organic solvents and Hodgkin's disease in men. A case-referent study.

A standardized personal interview schedule was used to study occupational exposure to organic solvents among 25 men aged 20-65 a with Hodgkin's disease and 50 referents matched for sex, age and residence. When exposure was defined as the handling of organic solvents every workday for at least 1 a within the 10-a period immediately preceding the interview, 12 of the Hodgkin's disease patients (48%) and six referents (12%) were occupationally exposed with a relative risk of 6.6 (p = 0.00005). For 9 of the 12 exposed Hodgkin's disease patients exposure to aromatic solvents was verified, and such exposure may well have occurred for the remaining three patients also. It was concluded that exposure to organic solvents may constitute an occupational risk with regard to Hodgkin's disease.